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  • Dr Naoise McDonagh

    Dr Naoise McDonagh

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  • CV (PDF File777.6 KB)
    https://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/business-and-law/faculty/profiles/senior-lecturer/dr-naoise-mcdonagh/related-content/downloads/CV_2026_NM-CV-updated-Sept.pdf
  • CV
    PDF File,(777.6 KB)

Dr Naoise McDonagh

Senior Lecturer

Staff Member Details
Email: n.mcdonagh@ecu.edu.au
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6136-1166

Dr Naoise McDonagh is the Director of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Senior Lecturer in International Trade and Geopolitics.

Biography

Dr Naoise McDonagh is a Senior Lecturer in ECU’s School of Business and Law and Director of its MBA portfolio. He combines academic, program and external leadership across higher education, public policy, industry engagement and scholarly publishing.

As MBA Director, Naoise provides strategic and operational leadership for three MBA programs and six nested postgraduate qualifications. He has led major course renewal, the development of new interdisciplinary programs and units, cross-School partnerships, assurance of learning and transnational delivery. His approach connects strategy with implementation: building stakeholder support, coordinating academic and professional teams, and translating industry insight into curriculum and organisational development.

Naoise’s research focuses on economic security and international trade, with focus on economic coercion, industrial policy and strategic supply chains. External positions include Non-Resident Fellow in Economic Security at the United States Studies Centre and Managing Editor of Law & Geoeconomics, where he helped establish the journal’s editorial systems and leads an international editorial team. His broader leadership experience includes serving as President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs South Australia and on its national board, and previously providing editorial and strategic leadership for the University of Adelaide Institute for International Trade’s policy-publication portfolio.

His work bridges scholarship and practice. He provides regular expert advice to Australian Company Directors, executive-level business leaders and has contributed expertise to DFAT leadership programs, parliamentary inquiries, Track 1.5 dialogues and senior government–industry forums in Australia and internationally. His research informs policy debate, executive decision-making and public understanding of the changing global economic order.

Naoise is also a highly sought-after media commentator. In 2025, he ranked first across ECU for media commentary impact, with 190 media mentions reaching an audience of 1.49 billion and generating US$13.8 million in earned media value for the University. His work has featured across ABC 7.30, Sky News, the Financial Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, Nikkei Asia and the South China Morning Post. Across these roles, he brings together diverse stakeholders, develops people and institutional capability, and translates complex research into practical influence.

Media Topics

Politics and International Trade; Geopolitics and International Business; Foreign Direct Investment Screening and National Security; Economic Sanctions and Business Risk; China and the World Economy.

Research Areas and Interests
  • Economic security and strategic trade policy
  • Tensions between state-led and market-led models of capitalism
  • Geopolitics and international trade
  • Firm strategy and strategic management

Professional Associations
  • Australian Institute of Company Directors, (member)
  • Australian Institute of International Affairs, (member)

Current Teaching
  • International Business
  • MBA, Strategic Management and International Competitiveness
  • Global Trade

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, New Zealand, 2019.

Research Outputs

2025

Journal Articles

  • McDonagh, N. (2025). US-China competition, world order and economic decoupling: insights from cultural realism. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 79(3), 364-384. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2025.2471353.
  • Draper, P., Freytag, A., McDonagh, N., Menter, M. (2025). The Impact of Due Diligence Legislation on International Trade and Business: Analysis of Potential Trade-Offs. Global Policy, 16(5), 1075-1086. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.70096.
  • McDonagh, N., Bachmann, SD. (2025). Economic Coercion and Grey Zone Competition: Reassessing the China-Australia Case. Pacific Affairs: an international review of Asia and the Pacific, 98(1), 53-77. https://doi.org/10.5509/2025981-art5.

Reports

2024

Reports

  • Draper, P., Freytag, A., McDonagh, N., Menter, M. (2024). The Impact of Due Diligence Legislation on International Trade and Business: An Analysis of Potential Trade-Offs. Adelaide. Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide.
  • Draper, P., Freytag, A., Gao, H., McDonagh, N., Evenett, S. (2024). Industrial Subsidies as a Major Policy Response since the Global Financial Crisis: Consequences and Remedies. Berlin. G20 Insights.

2023

Book Chapters

  • McDonagh, N. (2023). Protection or Protectionism? Assessing the EU’s New Investment Screening Measures Against State-Driven Foreign Investment Risks. Weaponizing Investments (59-78). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/17280_2023_4.

Reports

2022

Book Chapters

  • McDonagh, N. (2022). System rivalry during pandemic times: an institutional political economy view of great power vaccine diplomacy. A Research Agenda for COVID-19 and Society (105-120). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800885141.00013.

Journal Articles

2021

Journal Articles

  • McDonagh, N. (2021). The evolution of bank bailouts: Two centuries of variation, selection and retention. Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 31(3), 1065-1088. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-020-00666-8.
  • McDonagh, N. (2021). Credit Guidance for a Desired Economy: An Original Institutional Economics Critique of Financialization. Review of Radical Political Economics, 53(4), 675-693. https://doi.org/10.1177/04866134211018867.

Reports

  • Draper, P., Freytag, A., Gao, H., Kautz, M., McDonagh, N., Menter, M., Tu, X. (2021). Domestic Distortions through Industrial Subsidies: Reframing the G20's Potential Perspective. Berlin. G20 Insights.
  • Draper, P., McDonagh, N. (2021). The missing anchor: Why the EU should join the CPTPP. Sydney. The Lowy Institute.

2020

Journal Articles

2019

Book Chapters

  • McDonagh, N. (2019). Tales of austerity, and a crisis of wealth distribution. Discourse Analysis and Austerity: Critical Studies from Economics and Linguistics (159-176). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315208190.

2016

Journal Articles

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

Associate Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Cybersecurity Oversight in the Boardroom: Aligning Governance Practices with Australian Legislative Developments

Completed Supervisions

No data available
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