Dr Michael Intal Magcamit

Hello! I’m Michael Magcamit, Lecturer in Security Studies in the School of History Politics and International Relations (HyPIR) at the University of Leicester. Before joining HyPIR in June 2021 I was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Queen Mary University of London (2019-2021) and where I am also currently a Visiting Research Fellow (2021-2023). Prior to moving to the UK in 2019 I was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Musashi University in Tokyo Japan (2016-2019) and taught International Relations courses on a joint program between the University of London (LSE) and Musashi. I am the author of, among others, Ethnoreligious Otherings and Passionate Conflicts (OUP 2022) and Small Powers and Trading Security (Palgrave/Springer 2016). 

Growing up in a highly unequal society in the Philippines it has become my advocacy to dedicate my research works to providing a more holistic, nuanced and useful understanding of security and insecurity both from the perspectives and experiences of state units and human societies. As such, my research sits at the intersection of International Security, Conflict, Development, and Foreign Policy Studies with a specialist focus on East and Southeast Asia.

These are categorised into three research strands, namely:

• (In)Security and Conflict (strand 1)
• (In)Security and Development (strand 2) 
• (In)Security and Foreign Policy (strand 3)

At the core of each strand are three fundamental questions that tie them together: For whom is security? What does it mean to be secure? And how should security be pursued? My goal is to contribute to the theoretical development and empirical advancement of a critical, inclusive, and postcolonial view of security and insecurity. 

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Books

Magcamit, M. 2022. Ethnoreligious Otherings and Passionate Conflicts. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.

Magcamit, M. 2016. Small Powers and Trading Security: Contexts, Motives, and Outcomes: Cham/London: Springer/Palgrave.

 

Peer-reviewed Articles

Magcamit, M. 2021. To Feel Is To Believe: China, United States, and the Emotional Beliefs of Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte. Political Science, 73(1), pp. 6-30.

Magcamit, M. 2020. Imagined Insecurities in Imagined Communities: Manufacturing the Ethnoreligious Others as Security Threats. International Studies Quarterly, 64(3), pp. 684-698.

Magcamit, M. 2019. The Fault in Japan’s Stars: Shinzo Abe, North Korea, and the Quest for New Japanese Constitution. International Politics, 57(4), pp. 606-633.

Magcamit, M. 2019. The Duterte Method: A Neoclassical Realist Guide to Understanding a Small Power’s Foreign Policy and Strategic Behaviour in the Asia-Pacific. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 5(4), pp. 416-436.

Magcamit, M. 2017. Explaining the Three-way Linkage between Populism, Securitization, and Realist Foreign Policies: President Donald Trump and the Pursuit of “America First” Doctrine. World Affairs, 180(3), pp. 6-35.

Magcamit, M. 2016. Trading in Vain? Investigating the Philippines’ Development-oriented National Security and Free Trade Linkages. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 17(1), pp. 84-105.

Magcamit, M., and Tan, A. 2016. East and South China Seas Maritime Dispute Resolution and Escalation: Two Sides of the Same Coin?. Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, 3(2), p. 113-134.

Magcamit, M., and Tan, A. 2015. Crouching Tiger, Lurking Dragon: Understanding Taiwan’s Sovereignty and Trade Linkages in the Twenty-first Century. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 15(1), pp. 81-112.

Magcamit, M. 2015. Trading in Paranoia: Exploring Singapore’s Security-Trade Linkages in the Twenty-first Century. Asian Journal of Political Science, 23(2), pp. 184-206.

Magcamit, M. 2015. A Costly Affirmation: Exploring Malaysia’s One-Sided Domestic Security Dilemma. Asian Affairs, 42(1), pp. 22-45.

Magcamit, M. 2015. Games, Changes, and Fears: Exploring Taiwan’s Cross-Strait Security Dilemma in the Twenty-first Century. Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, 2(1), pp. 92-115.

 Magcamit, M. 2014. A Case for Cohabitative Security: The Philippine and Malaysian Experience. Journal of Human Security, 10(1), pp. 32-45.

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I am keen on supervising prospective PhD students who are interested in doing research on the following thematic subjects (with specialist focus on East and Southeast Asia):

• Ethnoreliogious Otherings, Violent Conflicts, and Affective Peacebuilding
• The Security Politics and Political Economy of International Trade
• Emotions, Populism, and Foreign Policy
• Affect, Religion, and Nationalism

I am currently (co)convening the following modudes at HyPIR Leicester:

• PL7168 Security Studies (MA, co-covenor)
• PL3151 East Asian International Relations (BA Year 3, lead covenor)
• PL2018 International Security Studies (BA Year 2, lead convenor) 

I will be happy to share my insights on current issues concerning Southeast Asian politics and conflicts and Asia-Pacific foreign policy and international trade. Below are examples of my engagement activities:


Interviews/Webinars
• Faculti, The Divine Tragedy of Securing the Sacred, 17 October 2021.
https://faculti.net/the-divine-tragedy-of-securing-the-sacred/
• The Monocle Radio, The Philippine Anti-Terror Bill, 8 June 2020.
https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-globalist/2246/(starts at 28: 30)
• EURAXESS, Supporting Mobile Researchers, 5 September 2020. 
https://cdn2.euraxess.org/worldwide/asean/imbitasyon-para-sa-isang-webinar-ukol-sa-2-taong-european-postdoctoral
• The Monocle Radio, Populist Leaders, 13 May 2019. 
https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-globalist/1966/ (starts at 29: 30)

Op-eds
• ISEAS Fulcrum, We’re Feeling It: Philippines Voters’ Emotional Beliefs in Presidential Candidates, 12 April 2022.
https://fulcrum.sg/were-feeling-it-philippines-voters-emotional-beliefs-in-presidential-candidates/
• The New Lens, Duterte’s Populism and Philippine Foreign Policy: Implications for China-Philippine Relations, 10 March 2017
https://international.thenewslens.com/article/63497

Blogs
• LSE Southeast Asia Centre Blog, Ethnoreligious Otherings and Passionate Conflicts, 21 April 2021.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/seac/2021/04/21/ethnoreligious-otherings-and-passionate-conflicts-in-southeast-asia/
• CORDIS European Commission News, Understanding the Imagined Security Threat of Ethnoreligious Groups in Protracted Conflicts, 9 July 2021.
https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/430386-understanding-the-imagined-security-threat-of-ethnoreligious-groups-in-protracted-conflicts
• LSE & Global Society Blog, Parallels Between Religion and Nationalism, 13 September 2019
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2019/09/faith-allegiance-obedience-parallels-between-religion-and-nationalism/
• The Asia Dialogue, Rodrigo Duterte and the Making of a Populist Demigod Parts 1 and 2, 17 March 2017.
https://theasiadialogue.com/2017/03/17/rodrigo-duterte-and-the-making-of-a-populist-demigod-part-1/
• University of the Philippines Forum, The Enduring Curse of Patronage Politics, University of the Philippines Forum, 30 April 2016.
https://halalan.up.edu.ph/the-enduring-curse-of-patronage-politics-why-filipinos-should-not-elect-a-patrimonial-president-in-the-2016-elections/ 

Selected Conference Presentations (Recent or upcoming)

American Political Science Association (15-18 September 2022, Montréal, Canada)
Paper: New Wars and Humanitarian Securitization in the Post-September 11 Era

International Studies Association (6-9 April 2021, Virtual)
Paper: Ethnoreligious Othering as a Security Defense Strategy of Genocidal States

European Consortium for Political Research (24-28 August 2020, Virtual)
Paper: Ethnoreligious Otherings and Protracted Conflicts in Southeast Asia

Midwest Political Science Association (4-7 April 2019, United States)
Paper: The Persistence of Nation-States: Security, Religion and, Nationalism in Contemporary Southeast Asia

International Studies Association Annual Convention (2-7 April 2018, United States)
Paper: Explaining the Three-way Linkage between Populism, Securitization and Realism