In Memoriam: Peter Marcus Kristensen (1983–2025)

Peter was a highly respected and deeply appreciated colleague, both within the Department of Political Science and across the extensive international research network he quickly established. His research interests spanned the Sociology of Science, International Relations Theory, and rising great powers, including the prospects for peaceful change in the international order. On this basis, his scholarship contributed to the development of a more genuinely global discipline of International Relations — one that necessarily encompasses strategic and scholarly thinking about international politics in countries such as China, Japan, India, and Brazil. In doing so, he provided important insights into both theoretical debates and developments beyond the West, as well as discussions of future foreign policy and international order.

Peter’s research was characterised by originality and strong systematics. He had a remarkable ability to engage respectfully with all types of research and perspectives, without ever leaving doubt as to his own position in the debate. The long list of leading international journals that published his work — International Studies Quarterly, International Political Sociology, European Journal of International Relations, Security Studies, and Review of International Political Economy, to name just a few — testifies to an outstanding scholar with significant international impact. In his academic publications, Peter practiced what he studied, co-authoring with researchers from an exceptionally wide range of countries, from East Asia to Latin America. Methodologically, his work ranged from quantitative network analyses of scientific citation patterns to in-depth qualitative interviews.

Within the International Relations research group at the Department of Political Science, Peter was both a focal point and a culture carrier. He organised and led research seminars with a natural and consistently welcoming authority, and he made a strong effort to combine high academic standards with social engagement – whether by introducing colleagues to a restaurant he believed they would enjoy or by organising joint activities for group members at major conferences. He took particular care in integrating early-career researchers and international visitors and worked purposefully to maintain and further develop a research environment that was pluralistic, constructive, and focused on the strength of arguments – regardless of who presented them.

Among students, Peter was a popular and respected lecturer. Early in his career, he assumed substantial responsibility for International Relations courses in the Political Science bachelor’s programme. Students and colleagues alike benefited from his exceptional breadth of knowledge, encompassing both the latest theoretical developments and the classic debates. His wide-ranging overview and pluralistic respect for the often very different theoretical perspectives that characterise the study of international relations ensured the continuous development of the courses, with attention to both established viewpoints and how they might be challenged. Central to his approach was the active involvement of student instructors, for whom he took significant responsibility. His continuous feedback to lecturers on how teaching could be made even better the following year was marked by his unique ability to communicate in a manner that was both clear and constructive. Many cohorts of students had their first encounter with International Relations shaped by Peter’s great enthusiasm, always combined with generosity and academic rigor.

We miss Peter deeply in our everyday lives, both as a colleague and as a friend.

May his memory be honored.