I am the Wick Cary Assistant Professor of International Security at the University of Oklahoma’s College of International Studies and a nonresident fellow with the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group.

My research, which has appeared or is forthcoming in International Theory, the European Journal of International Security, Global Studies Quarterly, the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, and Philosophy of the Social Sciences, operates at the intersection of IR theory and international security, focusing on great power politics and grand strategy. I am particularly interested in understanding the causes, processes, and consequences of order collapse in international politics. In addition, I conduct research on global governance and social science concepts.

Beyond my academic work, I have written policy analysis and commentary on U.S. grand strategy, transatlantic relations, and European security for outlets like Foreign Affairs, War on the Rocks, World Politics Review, Lawfare, Engelsberg Ideas, The Critic, and IP Quarterly.

Before joining OU, I served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Security and Foreign Policy at William & Mary’s Global Research Institute (2024-25), a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute (2023-24), and a Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow with a joint appointment at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and MIT’s Security Studies Program (2022-23).

I completed my Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, where I was a fellow with the Notre Dame International Security Center. In addition, I hold an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame as well as a B.A. in Philosophy & Economics from the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

You can reach me via email to graefrath@ou.edu.