Professor of International Security, Faculty of Social Sciences
Dr Bettina Renz is Professor of International Security at the School of Politics & IR. She obtained her MA and MSc in Russian Studies at the University of Edinburgh and completed her PhD at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham in 2005. She has previously lectured at King's College London at the Royal Air Force College and was an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Birmingham's European Research Institute.
Dr Renz has extensive experience in collaborating with networks of scholars both in the UK and internationally, as well as in knowledge-exchange with non-academic stakeholders and practitioners. During the academic year 2016/17 Professor Renz worked as a Senior Researcher at the University of Helsinki's Aleksanteri Institute on a project financed by the Finnish Prime Minister's Office, government's analysis, assessments and research activities fund. She spent time at the Canadian Forces College as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in spring 2020 and was a visiting professor at the Finnish National Defence University in the spring semester 2024.
Dr Renz's teaching interests are in the broad areas of international security and strategic studies. With a background in Russian studies her teaching centres on developments in contemporary Russia.… read more
Bettina Renz's major research expertise is Russian security and defence policy in the post-Cold war era. She has published widely on military reforms, civil-military relations and military operations… read more
Dr Renz is keen to take on PhD students who are interested in any area of Russian foreign, defence and security policy as well as contemporary strategy and airpower.
Dr Renz's teaching interests are in the broad areas of international security and strategic studies. With a background in Russian studies her teaching centres on developments in contemporary Russia. Her teaching is informed by research carried out into contemporary Russian security and defence policy, previously involving regular research visits to Russia. Having taught defence studies at RAF Cranwell until her appointment at Nottingham in 2007 Dr Renz is also interested in contemporary war and strategy with a focus on the use of air power. Dr Renz is a graduate of the King's Institute for Learning and Teaching and is a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. She was awarded a Chancellor Award for her contribution to the quality of teaching at the University of Nottingham in 2012.
Bettina Renz's major research expertise is Russian security and defence policy in the post-Cold war era. She has published widely on military reforms, civil-military relations and military operations other than war. Her latest monograph, 'Russia's Military Revival', was published with Polity in 2018. Professor Renz also has an active interest in contemporary war and strategy and in the role of airpower in modern conflict. She is currently completing a joint British Academy-funded project on Ukrainian military reforms with Dr Sarah Whitmore at Oxford Brookes University. The project investigates the importance of Ukraine's political and strategic context for the pursuit of military reforms.
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