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Director, Islamic Studies Program

• Affiliation(s)

  • Professor, Department of Political Science
  • Director, Islamic Studies Program
  • Faculty Associate, Center for Political Studies
  • Faculty Associate, WCED/WCEE, CREES, CMENAS

• Fields of Study

  • Political Economy
  • Political Development
  • Research Methods

• About

  Pauline Jones Luong’s scholarly work contributes broadly to the study of institutional origin, change, and impact in a wide variety of settings: newly emergent states with multiple competing subnational identities, states transitioning from planned to market economies, states rich in natural resources, and states with predominantly Muslim populations. The empirical basis for her work has been primarily the former Soviet Union (FSU) -- particularly the five Central Asian republics that gained independence in 1991 (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). However, she has also engaged in broad cross-national comparisons across regions, including Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), utilizing a combination of controlled case comparisons and statistical analysis. Future research will explore the institutionalization of secularism and the politics of extremism, focusing on countries with predominantly Muslim populations. 

• Education

  • Harvard University, Ph.D. with distinction (Government)
  • Harvard University, M.S. (Government)
  • UC Berkeley, B.A. with honors (Political Science and History)

• Awards

  • Karen T. Romer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award, Brown University (2009)
  • Bayer-Hirt Annual Lecture in Energy and Security, Yale University (2008)
  • Arthur Greer Memorial Prize, Yale University (2003)

• Grants

  • Carnegie Corporation of New York (2011-2014)
  • Smith Richardson Foundation (2004-2005)
  • National Council on Eurasian and East European Research (2002-2003)

• Presentations

  • Crude Ambitions: Why some Emerging Country National Oil Companies (NOCs) Internationalization Strategies Succeed (University of Toronto, 2012)
  • Petroleum Wealth and Fiscal Institutions: Policy Implications (International Monetary Fund, 2010)
  • The Myth of Resource Curse (Center for Security and International Studies, 2010)

• Selected Publications:

• Books

  • (2010) Oil is Not a Curse

• Articles

  • (2004) Contra Coercion, American Political Science Review
  • (2003) The Middle Easternization of Central Asia, Currrent History