Summit meetings, state visits, and trade: Romania's triangular relationship with the US and the UK, 1974-1980

The principal aim of this Fellowship will be linked to building an academic publication track record, for which I will commit 60% of the time. Firstly, I will work on a monograph based on my PhD thesis, and aim to produce a first draft of the manuscript within the first three months, from October to December 2024. The book will contribute to the historiography on the Cold War and summitry, by bringing to the fore a new perspective, arguing that a triangular relationship between Romania on the one hand, and the US and the UK on the other, existed from 1974-1980.

I will submit the draft to the publisher (potentially Oxford University Press), and then work on revisions throughout 2025, with the aim to deliver the final book manuscript by October 2025. Secondly, I will write an article about the Anglo-American allies' collaboration with Romania on areas such as the Middle East, with the aim to submit to the Cold War History journal in August 2025.

Limited research

I will use 10% of the Fellowship's time frame for archival research, and will aim to collect US, UK, and Romanian material mostly in digital form, but I will also pay short stay, in person, research visits to archives in London and Cambridge. All such material will enrich the answers of my PhD research questions, and help develop my project further (in line with my PhD examiners' recommendation)

Research engagement, networking, and social impact

I will dedicate 15% of the time to academic and non-academic research dissemination, as well as to networking, and social impact. I will be disseminating my research findings through a paper delivered at the International History Seminar held by the Institute of Historical Research in London. Moreover, I will contact the Romanian Cultural Centre in London, which would also be an ideal place for disseminating my research findings, as this is in close contact with institutions such as the Romanian embassy.

Additionally, I will approach policy-making institutions, such as the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. and Chatham House in London, as part of my plan to build pathways to policy impact. At Cambridge, I will organise a workshop that will bring together researchers, policy-makers, and diplomats with interests in diplomacy, summitry, and trade during the Cold War, with a focus on Eastern Europe.

The workshop will advance cutting edge and interdisciplinary debates regarding East-West co-operation via summitry and trade during the Cold War. The event's output will take form of a briefing note summarising key discussion points and reflexive feedback from the participants. Additionally, I will seek to build contacts with the Centre for Geopolitics in order to broaden my interdisciplinary academic networks.

Developing research and funding proposals

I will commit 15% of the Fellowship's time frame to laying the groundwork for future research projects and building my networks. I plan to carry out future postdoctoral research based on my PhD and archival visits to US, UK, and Romanian institutions, in order to investigate the triangular relationship's revival after 1990, as well as East-West co-operation and the role of summitry and trade in achieving geopolitical goals during the Cold War. I will apply for postdoctoral funding at the British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, and Horizon Europe.