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

Monograph

The Creation and Performance of Africa's Security Architecture: Power, Institutions and Ideas

John J. Hogan · Routledge · 2027 · Routledge Studies in Peace, Conflict and Security in Africa

This book examines the origins, institutional design, and early performance of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), revealing the political dynamics that shaped this landmark initiative in regional security governance. Drawing on extensive elite interviews with key decision-makers and access to foreign policy documents, it reconstructs how a coalition of states known as the Like-Minded Five exercised disproportionate influence over the creation of APSA. The book challenges the tendency to underestimate the agency of African states in shaping continental institutions, demonstrating how domestic political considerations and strategic coalition-building enabled middle powers to translate their vision into institutional outcomes.

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

• A Caring Moment: Emotion Norms in European Union–African Union Security Cooperation
  J. J. Hogan & Ö. Terzi · In: Western and Non-Western Perspectives on Emotions in International Relations · Routledge (2026) · pp. 133–149
• 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

• Academic freedom does not license genocide denial
  J. J. Hogan, Y. Eski & M. Luitjens · ScienceGuide · 12 May 2026
• 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

Events

• May
  2026
  VU Amsterdam Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

  Committee Chair · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• May
  2026
  Colonizing Palestine: The Zionist Left and the Making of the Palestinian Nakba

  Co-organiser · VU Amsterdam 3D Centre, Amsterdam
• April
  2026
  Gaza and Beyond: Occupation, Repression, and Regional Responses

  Panel Chair · VU Amsterdam 3D Centre, Amsterdam