Hilde Eliassen Restad is an associate professor of international studies at Bjørknes University College in Oslo, Norway. Before attaining her position as associate professor, she was senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Her PhD is in foreign affairs, obtained from the University of Virginia in 2010. While there, she was a Fulbright Alumna. Her research interests cover American politics, U.S. foreign policy, American history and international relations. Her dissertation was on the concept of American exceptionalism understood as an identity, and its effect on historic U.S. foreign policy traditions. This was further developed in her first book, "American Exceptionalism: An Idea that Made a Nation and Remade the World." Read her latest articles in Global Affairs and Texas National Security Review.
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**This started out as a reply to an article written by David Hughes, an article which quite fiercely attacked scholarship on American exceptionalism from the perspective of critical theory. We have since decided that we should rewrite the article focusing less on Hughes, and more on arguing for the theoretical usefulness of the concept of American exceptionalism when analyzing U.S. foreign policy. It is here we could use the feedback of the seminar participants: what to keep of the original article, what to add, and what other theories or theorists to focus on except critical theory. We would also appreciate ideas for where to submit the article, once it has been properly rewritten.**
Originally published at ndisc.nd.edu.