Stephen B. Kaplan

Headshot of Stephen Kaplan

Stephen B. Kaplan

Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Full-time Faculty


Contact:

Office Phone: 202-994-6680
Fax: 202-994-7743

Stephen B. Kaplan is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs; and a faculty affiliate of the Institute for International Economic Policy. Professor Kaplan's research and teaching interests focus on the frontiers of international and comparative political economy, where he specializes in the political economy of global finance and development, China's foreign investment in developing countries, and Latin American political economy.

In addition to writing two prize-winning books on financial globalization, Globalizing Patient Capital: The Political Economy of Chinese Finance in the Americas (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and Globalization and Austerity Politics in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2013), Professor Kaplan has also published articles in many top research journals, including the Journal of Politics, the Review of International Political Economy, the Latin American Research Review, Regulation and Governance, and World Development. His research and commentary has been featured in the Atlantic, Bloomberg News, Foreign Policy, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Goldman Sach's Top of the Mind, the New Republic, NPR’s Marketplace, and the Washington Post. Professor Kaplan holds a Ph.D. from Yale University, an M.S. from Georgetown University, and a post-doctorate fellowship from Princeton University. Prior to his doctoral studies, Professor Kaplan was a senior economic researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, writing extensively on developing country economics, global finance, and emerging market crises for more than a half-decade.

Professor Kaplan is on sabbatical for the 2023-24 academic year.


International and comparative political economy, where he specializes in the political economy of global finance and development; the politics of macroeconomic policymaking; Chinese foreign investment and development finance; and Latin American political economy.

  • Award Winner: 2023 Luciano Tomassini International Relations Book Award
  • Wilson Center Residential Fellowship, 2017-2018
  • Minerva Research Initiative Grant, 2015-2021
  • Smith-Richardson Strategy and Policy Fellowship, 2014-2021
  • APSA Mancur Olson Award, Best Dissertation in Political Economy
  • Post-doctorate Fellowship: Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
  • Associate Fellow, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization

Researching and writing new articles and books about the political economy of economic policymaking, development finance, international indebtedness.

Ph.D., Yale University
MS., Georgetown University
B.A., Tufts University

PSC 2439 International Political Economy

IAFF 3184 Rising Market Powers and 21st Century Globalization; Comparative Political Economy

IAFF 3187 Political Economy of Latin America

IAFF 6198 Rising Market Powers and 21st Century Globalization; Comparative Political Economy

PSC 8453 International Political Economy; Comparative Political Economy

Books

Globalizing Patient Capital: The Political Economy of Chinese Finance in the Americas (Cambridge University Press, 2021)

Globalization and Austerity Politics in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics, 2013)

 

Recent Articles

Global Contagion Risk and IMF Credit Cycles: Emergency Exits and Revolving Doors. With Sujeong Shim. Regulation and Governance, November 2023.

China-Venezuela Economic Relations: Hedging Venezuelan Bets with Chinese Characteristics. With Michael Penfold. Authoritarian Allies: Venezuela's International Relations and Regime Survival. Cynthia J. Arnson (ed.), Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2021.

Fighting Past Economic Wars: Crisis and Austerity in Latin AmericaLatin American Research Review 53(1): 2018.

The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt: Global Finance and Electoral Cycles. With Kaj Thommson. The Journal of Politics 79(2): 2017.

Partisan Technocratic Cycles in Latin AmericaElectoral Studies 45: 2017

Banking Unconditionally: The Political Economy of Chinese Finance in Latin AmericaReview of International Political Economy 23(4): 2016.