Faisal Ahmed

Associate Professor of Political Science

Contact
Email:
fa101@wellesley.edu
Department
Political Science
Economics (affiliated)

B.A., M.A., Northwestern University Ph.D., University of Chicago   Research focuses on political economy, international economics and politics.    

I study and teach political economy with a substantive focus in international economics and politics. My work is interdisciplinary and has been published in various journals, such as the American Political Science Review, American Economic Journal – Macroeconomics, Explorations in Economic History, Review of Economics and Statistics, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, and Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization.

My research largely probes the strategic interactions of political actors and the international economy. Some of this research features in two books, The Perils of International Capital (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and Conquests and Rents: A Political Economy of Dictatorship and Violence in Muslim Societies (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Other strands of my work explore topics in development, political violence, international economic law, and the political economy of migration. I am currently working on projects related to political connections and globalization, geopolitics and political violence, and the political economy of bureaucrats.

I earned a BA in mathematics and BA/MA in economics from Northwestern University and later completed my doctoral studies at the University of Chicago. Before transitioning to academia, I spent a few years as an international and macroeconomist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Education

  • B.A., Northwestern University
  • M.A., Northwestern University
  • Ph.D., University of Chicago

Current and upcoming courses

Seminar: The Wealth of Nations

POL3321

Academics and policymakers increasingly recognize that political factors can affect economic performance in developing countries. This class covers recent scholarship pertaining to the political economy of development predominantly from an international relations and historical political economy perspective. We will focus on how political processes affect economic performance from both a “macro” and “micro” perspective, including such factors as: institutions, historical legacies, colonialism, political regimes, sources of poor governance (e.g., corruption, ethnicity, civil conflict, religion), and the role of geopolitics, foreign aid, and international trade. The topics covered in this seminar scratch the surface on topics related to the political economy of development. Thus, the class will also provide an opportunity for each student to pursue an independent research project. (ECON 391 and POL3 321 are cross-listed courses.)

  • World Politics

    POL3221

    An introduction to the international system with emphasis on contemporary theory and practice. Analysis of the bases of power and influence, the sources of tension and conflict, and the modes of accommodation and conflict resolution. This course serves as an introduction to the international relations subfield in the political science department, and also as a means of fulfilling the political science core requirement of the international relations major.