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Matthias Matthijs

Matthias Matthijs

Dean Acheson Associate Professor of International Political Economy

About

Matthias Matthijs holds the Dean Acheson Chair at SAIS and is associate professor of international political economy. His research focuses on the politics of economic crises, the role of economic ideas in economic policymaking, and the politics of regional integration. At SAIS, he teaches courses in international relations and comparative politics, and was twice awarded the Max M. Fisher Prize for Excellence in Teaching, in 2011 and 2015. He is also a Senior Fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and served as the Chair of the European Union Studies Association (EUSA) from 2019 to 2021.
 
Matthijs is the editor (with Mark Blyth) of The Future of the Euro, published by Oxford University Press in 2015, and author of Ideas and Economic Crises in Britain from Attlee to Blair (1945-2005)published by Routledge in 2011. The latter is based on his doctoral dissertation, which received the Samuel H. Beer Prize for Best Dissertation in British Politics by a North American scholar, awarded by the British Politics Group of the American Political Science Association (APSA) in 2010.
 
Matthijs has authored numerous peer reviewed articles that have been published in academic journals including Perspectives on PoliticsPolitics & SocietyReview of International Political Economy, the Journal of Common Market StudiesGovernanceGovernment and Opposition, the Journal of European Public Policy, the Journal of European IntegrationComparative European Politics, and The International SpectatorHe has also written multiple articles and essays for Foreign AffairsForeign Policythe Journal of DemocracySurvival, and Current History.
 
Among various other research and writing projects, he is currently working on a book-length manuscript that delves into the collapse of national elite consensus around European integration.
 
He previously taught at American University’s School of International Service in Washington, DC from 2008 to 2012, and was a visiting assistant professor of international political economy at SAIS Europe in Bologna, Italy during the spring semester of 2010 and the academic year 2016-17. He has also served as a consultant for the World Bank’s Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) from 2005 to 2007 and for the Economist Intelligence Unit from 2009 to 2011.
 
Dr. Matthijs received his BSc in applied economics from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, and his MA and PhD in international relations from Johns Hopkins University.
 
Google Scholar Profile here.

MANUSCRIPTS/PAPERS/RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Responding to Europe’s Cage: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty in European Integration (Book Manuscript – Research in Progress)

“Muscles in Brussels: The European Union’s Economic Authority in Comparative Perspective” (with Craig Parsons) (Article, Research in progress)

“Ordoliberalism on Steroids: When Hayek Met Polanyi in Brussels” (with Craig Parsons) (Article, Research in progress)

“North-South Divergence and the Profligacy of Strangers: The IPE of the Eurozone’s Post-Crisis Growth Model” (with Alison Johnston) (Book Chapter, Research in progress)

PUBLICATIONS
 
The Future of the Euro (co-edited with Mark Blyth), New York: Oxford University Press, Published Hardcover/Paperback 2015.

Reviews:

  • By Anthony Payne in International Affairs 91 (6) (2015): Read it here.
  • By Daniel W. Drezner in The Washington Post (2015): Read it here.
  • By Herman M. Schwartz in Acta Politica 51 (2016): Read it here.
  • By Miguel Otero-Iglesias for EUSA Review of Books (2015): Read it here.
  • By Josef Hien for EuVisions (2016): Read it here.
  • By Randall Germain for CritCom (Council for European Studies, 2016): Read it here.
     

Ideas and Economic Crises in Britain from Attlee to Blair (1945-2005), London & New York: Routledge, Published Hardcover: 2011; Paperback: 2012.

Reviews:

  • By Barrie Dyster in The Economic and Labour Relations Review (2013): Read it here.
  • By Jim Tomlinson in The Economic History Review (2013): Read it here.

 
Articles and Book Chapters

Bibliographies

“Brexit, British Politics, and European Integration” (with Christina Toenshoff). In Oxford Bibliographies in Political Science. Ed. Sandy Maisel. New York: Oxford University Press, February 2019. (PDF available here)


Book Reviews

Review of Europe’s Future: Decoupling and Reforming (Cambridge University Press, 2019) by Sergio Fabbrini, in EUSA Review of Books (December 2019). Link (https://www.eustudies.org/eusa-review-of-books/26)
Review of In The Red: The Politics of Public Debt Accumulation in Developed Countries (University of Michigan Press, 2018) by Zsófia Barta, in Perspectives on Politics (Summer 2019).
Review of Fractured Continent: Europe's Crises and the Fate of the West (W.W. Norton, 2017) by William Drozdiak, in The Washington Post (October 2017).
Review of From Convergence to Crisis: Labor Markets and the Instability of the Euro (Cornell University Press, 2016) by Alison Johnston, in Perspectives on Politics (Summer 2017).
Review of Resilient Liberalism in Europe's Political Economy (Cambridge University Press, 2013) by Vivien A. Schmidt and Mark Thatcher, eds., in EUSA Review of Books (November 2015).
 

Shorter Articles

Exit, Voice, or Loyalty? The Collapse of National Elite Consensus on Europe’s Future,” chapter 32 in Erik Jones (editor), European Studies: Past, Present, and Future (Agenda Publishing, in collaboration with CES, 2020), pp. 147-151.
European leaders meet this week to confront the coronavirus” (with Kate McNamara), The Monkey Cage – Washington Post, Online, April 21, 2020.
The Coronavirus Is reducing Merkel’s EU Legacy to Ashes” (with Björn Bremer), Foreign Policy, Online, March 17, 2020
"The EU's "ever tigher union" needs informed debate, not blowing things up" (with Craig Parsons and Christina Toenshoff), LSE Brexit Blog, April 17, 2019.
"The Worst Brexit Option, Except for All the Others," Foreign Affairs, Online, December 20, 2018.
"Theresa May's Brexit Dilemma: It Comes Down to Country vs. Party," Foreign Affairs, Online, December 19, 2017.
"The Fate of Social Democracy Is Being Decided in Germany" (with Erik Jones), Foreign Policy, Online, December 12, 2017.
"Theresa May's horrible, no good, very bad day explains why democracy is better than technocracy" (with Mark Blyth), The Monkey Cage, Washington Post Online, October 5, 2017.
"This Was the Worst Possible German Election for Europe" (with Erik Jones), Foreign Policy, Online, September 26, 2017
"As the Reality of Brexit Sinks In, There Are No Good Options for the UK," World Politics Review, July 12, 2017.
"May's Bad Bet: What Losing the Conservative Party Majority Will Cost Britain," Foreign Affairs, Online, June 9, 2017.
"Worried about the decline in democracy? Worry about the politicians, not the voters" (with Erik Jones), The Monkey Cage, Washington Post Online, April 11, 2017.
"Goodbye To All That? Brexit and the Future of the United Kingdom" (with Andrew Whitworth), World Politics Review, April 4, 2017.
"Pulling the Trigger on Brexit and Passing the Point of No Return," Foreign Affairs, Online, March 29, 2017.
"The West Should Hope That Merkel Loses," Foreign Policy, Online, December 20, 2016
"Brexit's Path Forward: Why It'll Be No Cakewalk" (with Andrew Whitworth), Foreign Affairs, Online, November 30, 2016.
"Which Brexit Will May Choose? Save the United Kingdom or the Tories," Foreign Affairs, Online, July 18, 2016.
"Post-Brexit, the U.K. is in its worst political crisis since 1940, and the E.U. may be about to unravel," The Monkey Cage, Washington Post Online, June 29, 2016.
"Britain's Point of No Return: Europe's Democratic Dysfunction and the False Promise of Referenda," Foreign Affairs, Online, June 21, 2016.
"Dysfunctional Democracy and Referenda: The Case of Brexit," World Politics Review, June 9, 2016.
"Should It Stay or Should it Go? The Brexistential Crisis" (with R. Daniel Kelemen), Foreign Affairs, Online, February 29, 2016.
"When Destiny Meets Desire: The German Leadership Conundrum" essay contribution to AICGS Policy Report 63, October 2015.
"Cameron's EU Referendum: Lucky Gamble or Mission Impossible?" World Politics Review, June 26, 2015.
“Despite Anti-EU Rhetoric, Election Shows U.K.’s Continental Drift” (with Brian Fox), World Politics Review, April 15, 2015.
"Trading Up or Trading Down? Emerging Markets' Changing Interests in the World Trade System," (with Pravin Krishna), SAISPHERE (Johns Hopkins University, SAIS), January 2014.
“Memo to Euroland: You Can’t Run a Gold Standard in a Democracy,” APSA European Politics and Society Section, Newsletter, Summer 2012.
“The World Waits for Germany” (with Mark Blyth), Foreign Affairs, Online, June 2012.
“White, Grey, and Black (Euro) Swans: Dealing with Transatlantic Financial Risk in 2012," Transatlantic Perspectives, AICGS: Washington, DC, April 2012.
“Why Only Germany Can Fix the Euro” (with Mark Blyth), Foreign Affairs, Online, November 2011.
“The Sons of Brixton: Cameron's Failed Politics of Austerity,” Foreign Affairs, Online, August 2011.
“Not Just a German Problem: Lessons from the EMU Sovereign Debt Crisis for Global Adjustment,” Crooked Timber, Online, January 2011.
“Brown and the New British Diplomacy,” SAISPHERE (Johns Hopkins University, SAIS), December 2007.
“US and EU Trade Policy towards the Middle East: A Comparative Assessment,” Conflict in Focus, Issue 20 (Amman, Jordan: Regional Centre on Conflict Prevention), August 2007.
 
 

Expertise

Regions

  • Europe
  • France
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • United Kingdom

Topics

  • Comparative Politics
  • Global Financial Crises
  • Globalization
  • European Union and Transatlantic Relations
  • International Organizations
  • International Political Economy

Languages

  • Dutch
  • English
  • French
  • German

Additional Resources


In the News

The other side of Angela Merkel.

Matthias Matthijs wrote in Foreign Policy, 07/09

Can Biden repair America’s alliances?

Matthias Matthijs interviewed on Council on Foreign Relations’ The President’s Inbox podcast, 06/29

Post-Brexit Europe: What now?

Matthias Matthijs interviewed on Hopkins Podcast on Foreign Affairs, 02/08

A Brexit primer.

Matthias Matthijs interviewed for Vital Interests Forum, 01/21

Brexit Is finally done, but it already seems out of date.

Matthias Matthijs quoted in The New York Times, 12/24

Germany and Europe: New challenges in a multipolar world.

Matthias Matthijs participated in Germany Institute Amsterdam webinar, 10/8

Hegemonic leadership is what states make of it: Reading Kindleberger in Washington and Berlin.

Matthias Matthijs wrote in Review of International Political Economy, 8/31

Italy and the European elections of 2019.

Erik Jones and Matthias Matthijs wrote in Journal of Common Market Studies, 8/29

COVID-19 and national responses, part 1 of 2: Asia and Europe.

Kent E. Calder and Matthias Matthijs cited in MultiBriefs, 6/3

Rising U.K. death toll from coronavirus draws scrutiny

Matthias Matthijs quoted in The Wall Street Journal, 4/30