John J Hogan

About

I am an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, with a research focus on international security through a postcolonial lens. Much of my work has centred on the politics and security institutions of the African Union (AU), as well as cooperation between the AU and the European Union (EU). I am currently working on a project examining how policy translates into practice in the Defence Forces of Ireland. Cutting across this work is an interest in the role of emotions and narratives in international relations.

I completed my PhD at the University of Limerick, where I also taught, and have previously held a position as a lecturer at the University of Groningen.

Teaching is a passion of mine, and I place a strong emphasis on innovation in the classroom. I have had my efforts as a teacher recognised by winning the VU Faculty of Social Sciences Teacher Talent Prize in 2024, and being a finalist in the overall VU Teaching Talent Prize in 2025. Over the years, I have taught courses on International Relations theory, political science methods, international security, international organisations, and peace & conflict.

Publications

Journal Articles

• African agency in geopolitical times: playing with EU and Chinese ontological security
  N. Duggan, T. Haastrup, J. J. Hogan, L. Mah & L. Bernardo · Third World Quarterly · Online First (2025) · pp. 1–22
• Shame, Exasperation and Institutional Design: The African Union as an Emotional Security Community
  John J Hogan · African and Asian Studies · Vol. 22, No. 1–2 (2023) · pp. 88–112
• Competing Architects: Applying Social Contextualist Analysis to Negotiations on the African Peace and Security Architecture
  John J Hogan · African Security · Vol. 13, No. 1 (2020) · pp. 3–27

Book Chapters

• Bottom-Up, Affective Communities: The Deterritorialisation of Regional Security
  J. J. Hogan · In: Essays on Global Regionalism I: The Past, Present and Future of Regionalism Studies, ed. A. Acharya, P. De Lombaerde, B. Futák-Campbell, L. C. Iroulo & J. Peixoto Batista · Springer, United Nations University Series on Regionalism, vol. 30 (2026) · pp. 475–483
• What a Difference a Decade Makes: Understanding Security Policy Reversals Between the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union
  J. J. Hogan · In: Visions of African Unity: New Perspectives on the History of Pan-Africanism and African Unification Projects, ed. M. Grilli & F. Gerits · Springer International Publishing, Cham (2021) · pp. 289–316

Public Writing

• This Time Round, Africa Isn't Just the Playing Field, It's in the Game
  J. J. Hogan · Global South World · November 2025
• How African Union Members Came to Share Power Despite Themselves
  J. J. Hogan · The Conversation · 13 June 2021
• The After-Effects of Rwanda's Darkest Chapter
  J. J. Hogan · RTÉ Brainstorm · 25 April 2019

Events

• April
  2026
  Gaza and Beyond: Occupation, Repression, and Regional Responses

  Panel Chair · VU Amsterdam 3D Centre, Amsterdam