Pronetos

About

Dr. James D. Boys is a British historian who has written extensively on aspects of American political life in the late twentieth century. Born in Warwickshire, England, he read American Studies, History and Politics for his Honours Degree from Leicester University.

He holds a Masters Degree from the University of London’s prestigious Institute of United States Studies under the guidance of Dr. Robert McGeehan.

He completed his PhD in the Evolution and Execution of US Foreign Policy in the 1990s at the University of Birmingham under the tutelage of Professor Scott Lucas, author of Freedom’s War.

He is Assistant Professor of International Political Studies at the American International University in Richmond and Founder of The Resolute Group. (www.resolutegroup.org.)

Dr. Boys occupies a rare plateau in academia, focusing on politics as history and on history as politics. These issues have been considered in much of his work, which sees an attempt to engage in a multi-disciplinary approach, blending history and politics with a personal insight into political and historical developments. His work seeks to challenge prevailing doctrines and the concept of pre-determinism in history.

His studies and travels have brought Dr. Boys into contact with leading players on the world stage including Margaret Thatcher, Bob Dole, Ambassador William Crowe, Ken Starr, Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Gore and Bill Clinton.

As a student of the American Presidency, he has been open in his praise of the late American liberal historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. whom he was fortunate to have met in August 1997. He is also open in his praise of the work done by Niall Ferguson, whom Dr. Boys credits as an inspiration following a meeting in June 2006.

Current Research

Dr. Boys is working on a variety of projects at present. These include a major effort to continue his examination of the Clinton years. He has two papers nearing completion on Arresting Assertive Multilateralism and The Theoretical Concept of the Clinton Doctrine. Having completed his PhD thesis on the evolution and execution of foreign policy in the first Clinton Administration (1993-1997), Dr. Boys is in conversation with publishing houses about its potential publication and the likelihood is of a follow up piece examining the foreign policy of the second Clinton Administration (1997-2001).

Others plans include a third book examining the Clinton Presidency in Modern American history, considering the administration in contrast to the Bush Presidencies and comparing the styles, policies and personalities involved. Other areas of work include a biography of Clinton’s first National Security Adviser, Anthony Lake, who has a breadth of his experience; from wide eyed believer in the New Frontier, through his experience in Vietnam, through his time under Kissinger at the NSC, the wilderness years of the 1970s and 80s and his eventual emergence at the pinnacle of the National Security structure, only to be denied the role of DCI in Clinton’s second term. Dr. Boys is also researching material for a political biography of Al Gore, who played a vital role in the development of policy in the last decade of the 20th century and it is fascinating to consider what would have come to pass had the votes in Florida gone the other way.

Dr. Boys’ PhD research also provides the basis for another series of publications that he is pursuing, including A History of the National Security Strategy Reports, which examine the impact that these reports have had since they were Congressionally mandated in 1986, America’s Prime Minister? Newt Gingrich in the 1990s, an examination of the Republican Revolution of 1994 and its impact upon the United States, and finally Clash of Wills: Clinton and Gingrich, which examines the two political giants of the decade and the impact that their power struggle had upon America.

Subject Expertise

The Clinton Presidency
The Kennedy Presidency
The career of Robert F. Kennedy

Courses Taught

Comparative Politics
Globalisation and Power Networks
Twentieth Century American History
U.S. Foreign Policy
U.S. Politics
Introduction to Politics & Government
Political Philosophy
Foreign Policy Analysis
The American Presidency
Politics of the European Union
America: A Foreign Perspective
American Foreign Policy in the Cold War
Freedom and Slavery in the United States
American History from 1890

Publications

·James D. Boys and Hind Zantout, ‘E-Government: Big Brother of Athenian Democracy,’ in Proceedings of the IADIS International conference e-society 2009: Volume II, edited by Piet Kommers and Pedro Isaías, Barcelona, Spain, 2009 pp 13-17. ISBN: 978-972-8924-78-2

·James D. Boys, “The Dual Containment of Rogue States,’ NthPosition.com, edited by Val Stevenson, April 2005. http://www.nthposition.com/thedualcontainment.php

·James D. Boys, ‘Clinton and Europe: The Transatlantic Relationship’ 49th Parallel Journal, June 2004. Edited by Ali Fischer, http://www.49thparallel.bham.ac.uk/current/boys.htm

·James D. Boys, ‘The Somali Legacy: Black Hawk Two,’ NthPosition.com, edited by Val Stevenson, February 2004. http://www.nthposition.com/Somali%20Legacy.php

·James D. Boys, ‘Early evening, April 4th,’ NthPosition.com, edited by Val Stevenson, February 2003. http://www.nthposition.com/earlyeveningapril.php

·James D. Boys, and Scott Lucas, ‘With us or against us: Cultural Projections and US Foreign Policy after 9/11,’ 49th Parallel Journal, May 2003, edited by Ali Fischer, http://www.49thparallel.bham.ac.uk/back/issue10/lucas.htm

·James D. Boys, ‘Assessing Clinton’s Culpability for September 11.’ 49th Parallel Journal, May 2003, Edited by Ali Fischer, http://www.49thparallel.bham.ac.uk/back/issue10/boys.htm

·James D. Boys, ‘Evolving Intelligence; President Clinton & the CIA,’ NthPosition.com, edited by Val Stevenson, November 2002. http://www.nthposition.com/politics_boys.html

·James D. Boys, ‘Two Years in the White House, Clinton’s Foreign Policy 93-95,’ 49th Parallel Journal, 2002, ed. by Ali Fischer http://www.49thparallel.bham.ac.uk/back/issue9/boys.htm

·James D. Boys, ‘Extracting Excalibur, An Encounter with the President,’ British Association of American Studies Journal, June 1997.