Simon is Reader in Diplomatic and International Studies in the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, and Programme Director for MA Global Diplomacy, at SOAS University of London. His research focuses upon diplomacy, international and global history, with a particular focus upon on the US Embassy in London, and the diplomacy of sport. Simon is co-editor of Bloomsbury’s Key Studies in Diplomacy book series, and a member of the Editorial Board of Diplomatic History.
Most recently, he has published “Nearly Man: Thomas E. Dewey from Crime Buster to Presidential Contender in 1944” in Andrew Johnstone and Andrew Priest (eds), US Presidential Elections and Foreign Policy: Candidates, Campaigns and Global Politics from FDR to Bill Clinton (University of Kentucky Press, 2017). Simon’s current research interests centre upon the nexus of transnational, global and international history in the twentieth century. His focus lies in three areas: endeavours at post-war planning in the 1930s and 1940s; the practice of diplomacy as undertaken by those in the marzipan layer of diplomacy – ‘tier 2’ operatives, which shifts the story away from the principles such as Presidents and Prime Ministers; the role that sport plays as a conduit for transnational histories. His current projects include a special edition of the Journal of Contemporary History upon the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Dumbarton Oaks (due 2019); an article on the Diplomacy of the 1966 FIFA World Cup in relation to North Korea and the CAF Boycott; and a piece on the US Embassy in London, which builds upon the 2012 book he published on the subject.