Erik Ringmar graduated with a PhD from Yale University in 1993. His dissertation, under Alexander Wendt and James C. Scott, dealt with warfare and state-building in early modern Europe. He worked in the Government Department at the London School of Economics for 12 years where he was convenor of the MA program in Comparative politics. He was the Zhi Yuan Chair Professor of international relations at Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China. He is the author of 6 academic books and some 50 plus articles in the fields of international relations, world history, sociology and philosophy. His most recent book, Moving Bodies: Embodied Minds and the World That We Made was published by Cambridge University Press in 2023. His next book will deal with the origin of religious beliefs.