Ronan Mainprize
PhD Candidate
Associate Tutor
Academic email:
ronan dot mainprize at warwick dot ac dot uk
Teaching email:
ronan dot p dot mainprize at warwick dot ac dot uk
X:
Profile
Ronan P. Mainprize is a PhD Candidate and Associate Tutor at the University of Warwick. After studying Politics and International Relations as an undergraduate, he moved to Warwick in 2019 to undertake a Masters in International Security. He is now in the fourth year of his PhD project, supported by a PAIS departmental scholarship. His research specialises in intelligence, US foreign policy, and international security.
Thesis
A Tale of Three Crises: President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Central Intelligence Agency
Supervised by Professor Richard J. Aldrich and Professor Christopher R. Moran.
Ronan’s thesis assesses the role of the CIA in US foreign policy decision-making by using three case studies from the presidency of Lyndon Johnson: the Dominican Intervention (1965), the Six Day War (1967), and the Vietnam War (1963-1968). The thesis analyses the performance of the Agency in key intelligence cycle functions, and examines the way intelligence was used, politicised, and neglected by the Johnson administration.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:
- 'CIA at 75: roundtable on the past, present and future of the Central Intelligence Agency' - Journal of Intelligence History, Vol. 23, No. 1 (2023) (with Christopher R. Moran, Kate Vigurs, Richard J. Aldrich, Andrew Hammond, and James Lockhart)
- 'A seat at the president's table? Lyndon Johnson, the CIA, and the Six Day War' - Intelligence and National Security, Vol. 38, No. 6 (2023)
Op-Ed Articles:
- 'How LBJ forged the US-Israel alliance' - Engelsberg Ideas (22nd January, 2024)
- 'British foreign policy in an age of Trump 2.0' - Council on Geostrategy: Britain's World (18th October, 2023)
- 'Hotline Diplomacy is No Cold War Relic' - The National Interest (17th September, 2023)
- 'Biden's elevation to cabinet of CIA Director Burns is a positive sign for US national security' - LSE US Politics and Policy (4th August, 2023)
- 'Ukraine's long game' - Engelsberg Ideas (17th July, 2023)
- 'The Iran-Iraq War and the Lessons for Ukraine' - War on the Rocks (9th February, 2023)
Conferences and Talks
- 'COIN Collectors: The CIA in Vietnam' - University of Warwick Intelligence Studies Workshop (26th June, 2023)
- 'Aye, aye, Sir! William Raborn at the CIA' - APG Rothermere American Institute Conference (23rd June, 2023)
- 'The CIA at 75: A Roundtable' - University of Warwick (16th May, 2023) (with Richard Aldrich, Christopher Moran, Andrew Hammond, and James Lockhart)
- 'A Cable from Saigon: CIA Intelligence Collection in Vietnam, 1963-1968' - LSE International Graduate Student Conference on the Cold War (12th May, 2023)
- 'CIA Covert Action in the 20th Century and Beyond' - University of Warwick Vigilant State Lecture (14th March, 2023)
- 'Getting it Wrong: Intelligence History and the Six Day War' - CRIPS Working Group Seminar (4th May, 2022)
Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
- Warwick Cyber Security GRP Early Career Research Fellowship (2023)
- Warwick Doctoral College Networking Grant (2023)
- Advance Higher Education Fellowship (2022)
- Warwick Institute of Advanced Study Research Grant (2022)
- PAIS PhD Scholarship (2020-2024)
Teaching
Ronan is currently in his third year of teaching in PAIS. Alongside his teaching commitments he is working towards a Postgraduate Award in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PGA TLHE), and is also a Fellow of Advance Higher Education (FHEA). To organise an advice and feedback session, please contact the teaching email found above.
2023-2024 academic year modules:
-
PO382 - Vigilant State: Understanding Secret Intelligence
-
PO107 - Introduction to Politics
Media Outreach
- Interviewed for 'Lessons unlearned: Drawing parallels between the Ukraine war and historical military campaigns' - The Insider (22nd December, 2023)
- Radio interview on 'Flashpoint Ukraine' - Voice of America (14th February, 2023)