Research & CV
Full-length curriculum vitae (pdf)
Academic Appointments
University of North Dakota, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, 2026–present
University of California, Santa Barbara, Teaching Associate, Department of Political Science, 2022–2026
Education
University of California, Santa Barbara, Ph.D. in Political Science, with a Doctoral Emphasis in Global Studies, 2025
University of California, Santa Barbara, M.A. in Political Science, 2020
University of Wisconsin–Madison, B.A. in International Studies and French, 2015
Fellowships
Mercatus Center, Gordon Tullock Fellow, 2025–2026
Defense Language and National Security Education Office, Boren Fellow, Ghana, 2024–2025
Mercatus Center, Carl Menger Fellow, 2024–2025
Mercatus Center, Adam Smith Fellow, 2023–2024
Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies, Fellow, 2022
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals
“From Chokepoints to Datapoints in Chinese Global Port Development.” Forthcoming. Pacific Focus.
“Rewiring Globalization Through the Global South.” Forthcoming. Journal of Developing Societies.
“Varieties of Chinese Capital in Africa: A Typological Framework and the Case of Ghana.” 2026. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs.
“Measuring Influence: A New Index of Chinese Economic Engagement in Africa.” 2025. The African Review.
“Guanxism and Global Politics: A Rising Paradigm in International Relations Theory.” 2025. International Politics.
“The Effectiveness of Smart Sanctions: Examining Divergent Outcomes in Myanmar and Zimbabwe.” 2024. Journal of Asian and African Studies. Co-authored with George Tsouloufas.
“The Determinants of Growing Economic Inequality within Advanced Democracies.” 2023. International Review of Economics.
“Revisiting the Effectiveness of Economic Sanctions in the Context of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.” 2023. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal. Co-authored with George Tsouloufas. Winner of the journal’s 2023 Best Paper Award.
“Primitive Accumulation and Multinational Corporations: The Evolution of Dispossession and Exploitation in the Rubber Industry.” 2022. Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development, 7(1), Article 7.
“The Consequences of Growing Economic Inequality within Advanced Democracies: A Review Essay.” 2022. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, 17(2), 49–64.
“A Crisis of Globalization: A Review Essay.” 2021. Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development, 6(1), Article 2.
Book Reviews
Review of The Transsion Approach: Translating Chinese Mobile Technology in Africa. Forthcoming. Africa Spectrum.
“Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology.” 2023. Global Policy.
Public Scholarship and Policy Writing
“China’s Free-Trade Offer to Africa Won’t Solve the Trade Imbalance.” 2026. The Diplomat.
“Xi Has Made China’s Currency Ambition Explicit.” 2026. War on the Rocks.
“China’s Position in the Global Aviation Industry.” 2025. The Diplomat.
“China’s Investments in West African Ports.” 2024. RealClearWorld.
“The Case for a Single African Currency.” 2024. The Geopolitics.
“Beijing Has a Vision for the Global South. What about Washington?” 2023. Fletcher Forum of World Affairs.
“Chinese Investment in Ghana Is Entering a New Stage.” 2023. Africa at LSE.
“The U.S. Must Be ‘All in’ on Africa for the Long Haul.” 2022. The National Interest.
“The War in Ukraine and Food Security in Africa.” 2022. E-International Relations.
“Why the American Public Is Less Polarized on Foreign Policy.” 2022. The Foreign Policy Project.
“Doubling Down on Multi-Ethnic Democracy.” 2022. Diplomatic Courier.
“China’s Growing Dominance in Maritime Shipping.” 2021. The Diplomat.
“The Special Economic Zone as a New Model of Economic Development.” 2021. Modern Diplomacy.
Under Review
“The Role of Chinese Firms in West Africa’s Maritime Ports.”
“China, Europe and West African Ports: Cooperation in the Shadow of Rivalry.”
“Pragmatic Labor and the Globalization of Chinese State Capitalism in Africa.”
“China’s Maritime Industrial Power and Asian Security.”
Working Papers
“The Global Security Initiative and China’s Emerging Security Order.”
“From Lobito to TAZARA: U.S.–China Competition for Africa’s Critical Mineral Corridors.”
Book Manuscript
Anchoring Influence: China’s Role in Africa’s Ports. In progress.
Languages
English: Native
French: Advanced