Kaleb Demerew, PhD

Dr. Kal Demerew is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Center for Governance and Markets (University of Pittsburgh), and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Hope College. His research focuses on state-building conflicts and the comparative political economy of development, accounting for both domestic drivers of institutional change as well as external constrains on state agency and statecraft, particularly in Africa. He is the author of Contractualist State-building and Economic Freedom in Africa (forthcoming with Routledge) and Violence and State-building (forthcoming with SUNY Press), as well as co-editor of Nile Basin Politics (Edward Elgar, 2025). His work has also appeared in The Journal of Institutional Economics, Nations and Nationalism, and Third World Quarterly. His research has been supported by competitive grants and fellowships from the Center for Governance and Markets, the Institute for Humane Studies, and the Mercatus Center. He has taught Middle Eastern Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and International Conflict.