Dr Robert Barnes

Teaching

I am currently the Module Director and Module Tutor for a range of undergraduate and postgraduate History modules, including:

Module Director

• HIS5010M Mao's China: From Empire to Communism
• HIS6009M Special Subject in the History of the Cold War
• HIS7019M The Setting Sun: British Decolonisation, c. 1945 to 1968

Module Tutor

• HIS4015M A Century in Crisis
• HIS6001M Dissertation

Research

My main research interests lie in the International History of the twentieth century. More specifically, my previous research focused on the complex and often fraught interactions between Britain, its Commonwealth partners, and the United States at the United Nations during the Korean War. This research was supported by the LSE Research Studentship Scheme, the University of London Central Research Fund, a Royal Historical Society Postgraduate Research Support Grant, a Harry S. Truman Library Institute Research Grant, a Rajiv Gandhi Travelling Scholarship, a Gilchrist Educational Trust Travel Grant, and the Mercers' Company Educational Trust Fund.

My current research examines more broadly the security relationships that existed between Britain and the members of the Commonwealth between 1945 and 1956. I am also currently working on a monograph focusing on Commonwealth relations and the the South African disputes at the United Nations before apartheid became such a controversial issue at the world organisation in the late 1950s. For this research, I have received funding from the Scouloudi Historical Award, the Harry S Truman Library Research Grant, and the York St John University QR Fund.

I am also keenly interested in the history of the United Nations and East Asia during this period.

Publications

Books 

The South Africa Disputes before Apartheid: The Commonwealth and the United Nations, 1946-1952 (London: Bloomsbury Academic, forthcoming). 

The US, the UN and the Korean War: Communism in the Far East and the American Struggle for Hegemony in the Cold War (London: IB Tauris, 2014). 

Journal Articles 

‘”In the Mutual Interest”: The Making and Breaking of the United Kingdom-Ceylon Defence Agreement, 1947-1957’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 50:5 (2022), 1093-1122. 

‘”A Joint Controlling System”: Commonwealth Bases and the Special Relationship, 1945-1947’, The International History Review 42:4 (2020), 675-694. 

‘Chief Administrator or Political “Moderator”?: Dumbarton Oaks, the UN Secretary-General and the Korean War’, Journal of Contemporary History 54:2 (2019), 347-367. 

‘Between the Blocs: India, the United Nations and Ending the Korean War’, Journal of Korean Studies 18:2 (Fall 2013), 263-286. 

‘Ending the Korean War: Reconsidering the Importance of Eisenhower’s Election’, RUSI Journal 158:3 (June 2013), 78-87. 

‘Branding an Aggressor: The British Commonwealth, the United Nations and the Korean War following Chinese Intervention, November 1950 to February 1951’, Journal of Strategic Studies 33:2 (April 2010), 231-253. 

Book Chapters 

‘An Awkward Ally: Britain, apartheid South Africa and the Korean War’, in A. Best (ed.), British Foreign and Defence Policy in the Twentieth Century, Volume 2, 1940-1990 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, In Press). 

‘The Reluctant Contributor: Apartheid South Africa, the United Nations and the Korean War’ in D. Kim (ed.), UN and the Korean War (Leiden: Brill, In Press). 

‘Anglo-American relations and the making and breaking of the Korean phase of the 1954 Geneva Conference’ in A. Best (ed.), Britain's Retreat from Empire in East Asia, 1905-1980: Essays in Honour of Peter Lowe (London: Routledge, 2016). 

'Britain and the Commonwealth', in J. Matray and D. Boose (eds.), The Ashgate Companion to the Korean War (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2014), 73-84. 

‘Introduction’, in Steven Casey (ed.), The Korean War at Sixty (London: Routledge, 2012), 1-13. 

Book Reviews

Nick Bunker, In the Shadow of Fear: America and the World in 1950 (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2023). Diplomacy & Statecraft 35:1 (2024), 227-228. 

Jun Suk Hyun and William Stueck, “The U.S.–ROK Relationship into Full Bloom: From ‘Little Strategic Interest’ to Alliance Partner, 1947–1966.” Journal of American-East Asian Relations 26:2 (2019): 103-140. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1163/18765610-02602002. H-Diplo Article Review 962, 2 July 2020, https://hdiplo.org/to/AR962 

Kevin Ruane and Matthew Jones, Anthony Eden, Anglo-American Relations and the 1954 Indochina Crisis (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019), Diplomacy and Statecraft 31:1 (2020), 196-197. 

Lawrence Kaplan, NATO Before the Korean War: April 1949-June 1950 (Kent, OH: Kent University Press, 2013), Journal of American Studies 48:3 (2014), 216-217. 

Allan Millett, The Korean War, 1950-1951: They Came from the North (Lawrence, 2010), War in History 18:3 (July 2011), 411-412. 

Conferences and seminars

June 2024   The Shape of Modern War: Insights from Twentieth-Century Conflicts, Open University-LSE Ideas 
Invited Paper: From civil war to Cold War ‘hot’ war: The escalation of the Korean War 

 June 2024   Military History Consortium Conference, Lancaster University 
Paper: ‘”United as free and equal”: The New Commonwealth, Prime Ministers’ Meetings and the Korean War’ 

 Nov. 2023    Humanities Now Lunchtime Sessions, York St John University 
Paper: Decolonising Teaching the History of Decolonisation 

Nov. 2023    Research Active Workshop (RAW), York St John University
Paper: The South African Disputes before Apartheid: The United Nations and Commonwealth Relations, 1946-1952 

 Sept. 2023  Do International Institutions Matter? Roundtable, Contemporary History and Politics Research Group, York St John University 
Paper: The Commonwealth of Nations 

June 2023  Talking about Teaching (to Transgress): Inclusion, Anti-Racism, Decolonisation York St John University 
Paper: Talking about Decolonising Teaching the History of Decolonisation 

Nov. 2022  A World in Crisis? Roundtable, Centre for Religion in Society, York St John University 
Paper: ‘Little rocket man strikes again: The causes and potential consequences of the current North Korean missile crisis’ 

Oct. 2022  United Nations and Korean War Conference, Pusan National University, South Korea 
Invited Paper: Apartheid South Africa, the UN and the Korean War 

July 2019  Transatlantic Studies Association Annual Conference 2019, University of Lancaster 
Paper: ‘A Joint Controlling System’: Commonwealth Bases and the Special Relationship 

June 2018 School of Humanities, Religion and Philosophy Annual Conference, YSJU
Paper: Commonwealth Bases and the Special Relationship, 1945-1947 

June 2018 Britain and the World Annual Conference 2018, University of Exeter 
Paper: Commonwealth Bases and the Special Relationship, 1945-1947 

Sept. 2017 Research Reflections 2017, York St John University, York 
Paper: The Commonwealth question and the ‘Special Relationship’, 1945-50. 

Sept. 2016 British International History Group Annual Conference, Edinburgh University 
Paper: An Awkward Ally: Britain, South Africa and the Indian item at the UN, 1946-61 

Sept. 2015 British International History Group Annual Conference, University of Kent, Canterbury 
Paper: The ‘model’ former colony?: Britain, Ceylon and the early Cold War, 1948-1957 

June 2015 A Century of Peril and Progress?: International History since the First World War, York St John University 
Paper: Britain and the Ceylon Defence Agreement, 1948-1957 

May 2014 The UN and the Post-War Global Order: Dumbarton Oaks in Perspective After 70 Years, SOAS, London 
Invited Paper: The UN Secretary-General and the Korean War 

June 2013 International History Seminar, Institute of Historical Research, London 
Invited Paper: The US, the UN and the Korean War, 1950-1954 

June 2013 LSE IDEAS Conference, 60 Years after the End of the Korean War 
Invited Paper: From Panmunjom to Geneva: The End of the Korean War and its Immediate Aftermath 

Mar. 2012  LSE-Columbia University International and World History Seminar, Columbia University 
Invited Paper: India, the United Nations and the Korean War 

July 2011  Historians of the Twentieth Century United States, University of Oxford 
Paper: The Truman Administration, the United Nations and the Korean War 

Jan. 2010  American Political Group Conference, University of Oxford 
Paper: The Eisenhower Administration, the United Nations and the Korean War 

June 2009  Centre for Contemporary British History Summer Conference, IHR
Paper: Britain, the United Nations and the Korean War 

Apr. 2009  British Association for American Studies, University of Nottingham
Paper: The Impact of the 1952 US Presidential Election on the Korean War 

Dec. 2008 HY509 International History Research Seminar, LSE 
Paper: The United Nations and the Outbreak of the Korean War 

June 2008  South-East Hub for History Conference, University of Reading 
Paper: The Korean War Endgame, 1952-1953 

Feb. 2007  International History Postgraduate Seminar, LSE
Paper: The United Nations and the Korean Armistice

Professional activities

I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor. I have also been awarded the Chartered Management Institute's Level 2 Award in Team Leadership.

In addition, I am a member of the Army Records Society, British International History Group, British Scholar Society, British Association of Korean Studies and Transatlantic Studies Association.

Moreover, I am an Editorial Board Member of the Royal Historical Society's New Historical Perspectives book series and have acted as a peer reviewer for Brill, Palgrave Macmillan, Peter Lang, the Journal of Transatlantic Studies, the International History Review, and the International Journal of Military History and Historiography.

Lastly, I am an external examiner for the LSE and have previously been an external examiner for the University of Wales Trinity St David.

Public engagement and media appearances

Jan. 2020 Steps to Genocide in Nazi Germany and Colonial India, Holocaust Memorial Day, York 
Paper: Steps to Retributive Genocide in the Punjab 

June 2019 Propaganda and the People in Wartime Yorkshire, York Festival of Ideas 
Paper: York’s Civil Defence Planning in the Early Cold War, 1945-1962 

Oct. 2017 York St John University Students as Researchers Scheme and York Explore
Project: How York Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: York’s Civil Defence Planning in the Early Cold War, 1945-1962 

June 2017 The Story of Britain’s Past and Future Place in the World, York Festival of Ideas 
Paper: Britain and the Commonwealth 

May 2017 British Army Cultural Study Day, Queen Elizabeth II Barracks, Strensall, North Yorkshire 
Paper: Is there such a thing as British identity? 

Oct. 2014 Black History Month Event: ‘Anniversaries’, York St John University 
Paper: Black Soldiers in the First World War 

Oct. 2013 Black History Month Event: ‘Heroes’, York St John University 
Paper: Kwame Nkrumah

Media appearances

19 June 2024 The Conversation, Putin-Kim summit has roots in an alliance of ‘isolated’ nations built over decades 

2023-2024 Cold Warnings, York St John University and the Arts Council England, short film 

15 Oct. 2022  State of the World Report (Report o stanie swiata), Adrian Bak on the collapse of the Commonwealth of Nations 

19 Nov. 2020 JTBC, Korean War: The Forgotten War 

25 Oct. 2020 CGTN, Enemy on the Doorstep: China’s Involvement in Korea 

30 Jan. 2020 PMP Magazine, ‘Lessons from the Commonwealth as Britain finds its place in a post-Brexit world’ 

23 Jan. 2020 The Voice of the Cape, Drive Time, Lessons from the Commonwealth for Brexit 

22 Jan. 2020 The Conversation, ‘Lessons from the Commonwealth as Britain finds its place in a post-Brexit world’ 

24 Apr. 2018 BBC Radio Tees, Gary Phillipson Show, Talking about Korea. 

4 Sept. 2017 BBC Radio Tees, Mike Parr Show, Talking about Korea. 

29 Aug. 2017 BBC Radio Tees, Gary Phillipson Show, Talking about Korea. 

14 Aug. 2017 The Fair Observer, ‘Dealing with Kim: Trump’s Failure to Understand Juche’ 

11 Aug. 2017 BBC Radio York, Jules Bellerby Show, Talking about Korea. 

10 Aug. 2017 The Islam Channel, The Report, Talking about Korea. 

9 Aug, 2017   BBC Radio Tees, Gary Phillipson Show, Talking about Korea.

Event organisation

Oct. 2022 Black History Month, York St John University  
‘Blood Brothers: Colonialism and Fascism as Relations in the Interwar Caribbean and West Africa’, Dr Leslie James, Queen Mary University of London 

June 2017 The Story of Britain’s Past and Future Place in the World, York Festival of Ideas, York St John University
For this event I received £1000 from the York St John University Public Engagement Fund. 

June 2015 A Century of Peril and Progress?: International History since the First World War, York St John University 
For this event I received £2000 from the York St John University Catalyst Fund.