Andrea Benvenuti is a Senior Lecturer of European Studies and International Relations at the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW.
Andrea’s current research interests lie in the field of post-1945 international history with a strong focus on Cold War diplomacy. He is currently working on two major projects: the first focuses on the Western powers' responses to the emergence of the Non-Alignment Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The second is a collaborative project that examines the role and impact/influence of Western military power and strategic foreign policy in the ordering and re-ordering of Asia between 1919 and 1989.
Research Areas
Twentieth century international history, Cold War history, European integration history, twentieth century Southeast Asian history, British foreign policy, Australian foreign policy, US foreign policy, Indian foreign policy and Italian foreign policy
Current Research Projects
The Challenge of Non-alignment: The Western Powers and the Emergence of the Non-Alignment Movement during the Early Cold War (1955-65)
This project explores Western attitudes towards the emergence of the non-aligned movement (NAM) during the early Cold War and the latter’s impact on Western political and strategic interests in Asia. More specifically, it seeks to address a number of key questions, including: 1) what political and strategic challenges did non-alignment throw up for the Western powers in Asia? How did the Western powers and their political establishments perceive and deal with these challenges? To what extent did the Western powers try to coordinate their policies and arrive at a common strategy? Did they (and if so, to what extent) try to exploit growing differences between the most moderate members of NAM such as India and the most radical ones such as Indonesia?
Western Military Power and the Shaping of Asia (1919-89)
This collaborative project sponsored by the National University of Singapore and involving a small international team of 7 international and military historians examines the role and impact/influence of Western military power and strategic foreign policy in the ordering and re-ordering of Asia from the Conference of Versailles in 1919 to the end of the Cold War in 1989. Its novel contribution lies in the attempt to conceptualise the interplay between Western politico-military presence and activity in Asia, Western aspirations for the shaping of Asia and the emergence of an Asian states system often unresponsive to Western interests and aims.
Postgraduate Research Supervision
Areas of Supervision
Twentieth century international history, Cold War history, European integration history, twentieth century Southeast Asian history, and foreign policy of the Great Britain, Australia, the US, India and Italy
Recent Successful Postgraduate Research Supervisions
- Bill Apter, PhD International History, Australian-British relations, Commonwealth History
- Aung Gyaw Thu, PhD, International Relations, Myanmar's foreign policy
Teaching
Teaching areas
History of International Relations, Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
Current teaching
ARTS 2817 Diplomacy and Statecraft
ARTS3783 Great and Emerging Powers
POLS 5129 The Foreign Policies of the Great Powers
Affiliation and Memberships
- Fellow, Royal Historical Society (London)
- Member of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR)
Other Information
Prior to coming to UNSW, Andrea Benvenuti taught International History and International Relations at UNSW Asia in Singapore. Between July 2004 and December 2006 he held a postdoctoral research fellowship in International Relations at the School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane. Before joining the University of Queensland, Andrea was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies (King's College London).