CHRISTINA COTTIERO

I am an Assistant Professor in the University of Utah Department of Political Science and an Affiliated Researcher at the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, where I was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow and Dissertation Fellow.  In 2021, I received my PhD from the Department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego.  I was also a United States Institute of Peace-Minerva Peace and Security Scholar (2019-2020).  

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My research focuses on international organizations, international influences on democracy/autocracy, and elite politics, particularly in Africa. 

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My first book on elite politics driving regional cooperation in Africa is forthcoming at Cambridge University Press in 2026. I have a series of projects on international cooperation among autocracies, including via international financial institutions, and papers on low-quality (authoritarian-backed) international election observers.  My most recent research has been published or is forthcoming in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly and The Review of International Organizations.

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I co-organize (with Stephan Haggard) a working paper series and produce translational material for academic and non-academic audiences on illiberal regimes in international organizations.  Links to the working papers, interviews, and blog entries are here on our IGCC project page.

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Please feel free to contact me at c.cottiero@utah.edu