Written by Shreya Gupta
When I hear the name “Rory Stewart”, I instantly think of my mornings: coffee in hand, The Rest Is Politics in my ears. So I doubt I was the only one at LSE who was stunned when the IR Department announced that Rory Stewart would be joining as a professor in practice. I can’t describe the thrill of the thought that in my third year of studying IR, I might walk into a Monday 9 am lecture to find Rory Stewart – as a former diplomat and politician – at the front of the room, discussing theory in practice.
I didn’t hesitate. I set about finding a way to interview him, to hear about his arrival at LSE and how his career has taken shape. When his team finally replied, I knew I had to approach it diligently.
I began, naturally, with his appointment: what drew him to teaching IR at LSE, and what did he hope to bring to the department? His answer drew on his own experience: “I fell into international relations as a young diplomat and never climbed back out. Much of my working life since has been spent abroad, in embassies, with NGOs and sometimes on foot. I love LSE for its students. I can offer some experience of what happens when an elegant theory meets an actual government.”
With the department’s centenary coming up in 2027, I wanted to ask how the study of IR has evolved, particularly in light of rapid advances in technology and AI. Given Rory’s discussion of these shifts in his podcast with Alastair Campbell, I asked: “What do you think the study of IR at LSE should focus on, particularly given how quickly technology is developing and being weaponised?”
He answered modestly: “I wouldn’t presume to tell the department what to study, but I’d love a revival of bold general theory. Susan Strange and Hedley Bull weren’t embarrassed to ask how the whole world works.”
The tension between theory and practice is one I find increasingly fascinating, as political decisions become increasingly harder to analyse. So I asked how his own view of foreign policy-making compares with what academic IR teaches. He replied: “Iraq, Afghanistan, and government taught me how much foreign policy is made by bureaucracy, inertia and the deep reluctance of institutions to do anything at all. Even that is too tidy. Underneath sit ambition, anxiety, vanity and whoever happened to be in the room. Academic IR sometimes imagines the state as a person with a plan. From the inside, that looked like flattery.”
I’ve always found Rory boldly opinionated, willing to challenge the status quo and to play devil’s advocate, a mindset that is invaluable in politics. So I was eager to ask about this year’s developments, many of which have been difficult to analyse through a traditional IR lens. Starting with Europe, I turned to perhaps the most divisive subject in British politics: Brexit.
“You and Alastair have discussed Brexit at length on The Rest Is Politics,” I said. “Where do you think the UK’s relationship with Europe should end up, and what would it realistically take to get there?”
His answer was strikingly direct: “We should never have left the customs union, and nothing in the referendum required it. Now we should move much faster towards Europe, perhaps towards something like Norway’s arrangement with the single market. But that comes with obligations.”
On the topic of European politics, I asked about the youth-driven protest movements against governments in several countries, most starkly in France. What did he believe caused such a rupture, and what lessons should policymakers and students of IR draw from it, particularly given LSE’s own diverse cohort? He stated: “Protest movements baffle me, and I wouldn’t trust myself with a general theory of them. Look at France. You can list the grievances and trace two centuries of barricades, and the explosion still surprises France. LSE students will have lived protest very differently from me, and I’d rather hear their explanations than inflict mine.”
From there, I turned to his recent inaugural lecture at LSE, “Weaponising Dependency”. He had described the international system as completely fragmented, so I asked whether he expected any broad order to emerge over the next fifty years, and what it might look like. He responded: “I suspect we’re heading for an order in which the United States and China are balanced by a coalition of everyone else. The question is whether everyone else can get organised. If not, we’ll spend the next fifty years being made to choose between Washington and Beijing, and resenting both.”
After such serious questions, I wanted to lighten the mood, especially since I’m curious how Rory manages such a packed career. My own attempts to schedule an interview showed me just how fast-paced his life is. I asked: “You’ve pivoted between very different careers, from the Foreign Office to Parliament to the media to academia. What makes you decide it’s time for the next move, and how do you choose where to go?”
His reply was refreshingly honest: “Embarrassingly unstructured. Someone offers me something, and I think: wouldn’t it be fun to try that? That is roughly how I ended up becoming a recovering politician – in other words it doesn’t always end well. But curiosity has been a better guide than prudence.”
His candidness and optimism made it the perfect time to ask for advice for IR students, myself included, as we prepare to enter the daunting world of work: “For a third-year IR student graduating into this world, what is your advice, especially as we enter a historic period of political upheaval and AI development?”
His answer was succinct: “Go deep. Learn a language, stay somewhere long enough to be properly confused by it, and get out of the capital. My happiest work has been in villages, not ministries. The world has no shortage of people with sweeping explanations. Be the rare person who actually knows something about a particular local place.”
I followed up: “What is one book you would tell every IR student to read, and why?”
Stewart recommended: “James C. Scott’s Seeing Like a State. It shows how grand schemes to improve people’s lives collapse when governments don’t understand the people they’re trying to improve.”
To wrap up, I had to ask the most important question of all, given his chemistry with Alastair Campbell on the podcast: “How does Alastair feel about your appointment as a professor at the LSE?”
Stewart replied: “I expected Alastair to tease me about swapping Yale for LSE. So far he’s said nothing. With Alastair, silence is never good news.”
It felt like the perfect note to end on, and it left me, and the IR Department, in eager anticipation of Rory’s future contributions to LSE.
Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth, Head of the Department of International Relations, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Rory Stewart to the Department of International Relations. He is a truly exceptional figure whose career spans the highest levels of British politics, frontline diplomacy, humanitarian leadership, and academia, and who has established himself as one of the most compelling public intellectuals of his generation.
“His insights into international relations, foreign policy, and the challenges facing the contemporary world order are unmatched, and his ability to communicate complex ideas to wide audiences is extraordinary. He embodies the values that LSE’s International Relations Department has stood for throughout its history: rigorous thinking in the service of the real world.
“His appointment will enrich the intellectual life of our students and colleagues, and be a wonderful addition to both the Department and the School as we approach the Department’s centenary in 2027.”
