Alexander Cooley
Claire Tow Professor of Political Science, Barnard College

 Alexander Cooley
Alexander Cooley is the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard College where he has taught for 20 years and the recent Director of Columbia University's Harriman Institute (2015-2021).

Professor Cooley’s research examines how international actors have influenced the sovereignty, governance and development of the post-Soviet states since the end of the Cold War, with a focus on Russia and Central Asia. Cooley is the author and/or editor of eight academic books including, Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia (Yale University Press 2017), co-authored with John Heathershaw, and most recently, Exit from Hegemony: the Unravelling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020), co-authored with Daniel Nexon. In addition to his academic research, Professor Cooley serves on several international advisory boards engaged with the region and has testified for the United States Congress and Helsinki Commission on issues including regional corruption and transnational repression. Cooley's opinion pieces have appeared in New York Times, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs and his research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the Open Society Foundations, Carnegie Corporation, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, among others. Cooley earned both his MA and Ph.D. from Columbia University.