Malcolm Jorgensen

Dr. Malcolm Jorgensen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL) in Heidelberg, coordinating the MPIL Agora and International Law Colloquium. He holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Sydney, with research focusing on comparative international legal policy, US foreign policy, and Indo-Pacific geopolitics. His work bridges legal scholarship and political analysis, examining how states frame international legal norms to advance strategic interests.

Education includes a PhD in International Law (2015), Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (2009), and multiple degrees in International Relations and Economics from the University of Queensland. Professional roles span academia, government, and diplomacy, including service as a Judge’s Associate in Queensland’s Supreme Court and legal advisor in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Research interests include the contested nature of the international legal order, geolegal strategies of rising powers (e.g., China), and the interplay between law and security in global conflicts. He leads a VolkswagenStiftung-funded project on comparative international legal policy, analyzing how states like the US, Germany, and China approach the international legal order.

Publications include his monograph American Foreign Policy Ideology and the International Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and peer-reviewed articles on China’s foreign relations law, the ICC’s Afghanistan investigation, and the German National Security Strategy. He frequently presents at conferences and lectures on topics such as multipolarity, geoeconomics, and the weaponization of international law.

Grants include a two-year Volkswagen Foundation grant (2023–2025) for comparative legal policy research and contributions to the Berlin Potsdam Research Group. Teaching includes courses on US international law policy, public international law, and Indo-Pacific security at universities in Germany, Australia, and Palestine.

Professional networks include affiliations with Humboldt University Berlin, Sydney Centre for International Law, and the Sydney Law School. He actively engages with policy circles through media commentary on issues like the ICC’s role in Ukraine and China’s South China Sea strategy.