Welcome

I am an incoming Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Graduate School of International Relations at the International University of Japan. I completed my PhD in Political Science at Texas A&M University in 2026.

My research examines how political actors establish credibility and cooperate under uncertainty, focusing on the institutions and signals that make both possible. This agenda covers three major areas: (1) the emergence and design of autocratic institutions, particularly in Africa; (2) the interaction between autocratic institutions and financial markets in international political economy; and (3) credible signaling and communication in international security. Alongside these core areas, I study public opinion on contemporary issues, such as state surveillance and right-wing populism.

My book project, Constitutions, Coups, and Credit, combines my core interests through autocratic succession in Africa. It explains why some dictatorships formalize succession rules while others do not and how institutionalized succession shapes investor behavior in sovereign bond markets using an original dataset of succession rules.

My research has been published in Electoral Studies and conditionally accepted at the Journal of Politics.