Pierre Englebert

H. Russell Smith Professor of International Relations and Professor of Politics; On leave for the 2018-2019 academic year

Pierre.Englebert@pomona.edu

Office:

Carnegie Building

(909) 607-2496

Personal Website

With Pomona since:

1998

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Expertise

Professor Englebert has spent more than 30 years studying African politics and development, with a particular focus on Francophone West and Central Africa.

He travels to Africa two to three times a year in an effort to understand and address the challenges of postcolonial state formation and development.

His research has focused on the resilience of weak states, nationalism and separatism, development and foreign aid, fragile states, and democratization.

Areas of Expertise

Politics
Sub-Saharan Africa
Fragile States
Nationalism
Francophone Africa
Democratic Republic of Congo
Political Economy of Development

Work

Books

With K. Dunn, Inside African Politics (Lynne Rienner 2013)
Africa: Unity, Sovereignty and Sorrow (Lynne Rienner, 2009)
State Legitimacy and Development in Africa (Lynne Rienner, 2000)
Burkina Faso: Unsteady Statehood in West Africa (Westview; 1996)

Opinions and Reports

“Africa’s Growth-Governance Paradox,” a research report co-authored with Gailyn Portelance, AfricaPlus, 8 January 2015.
“Burkina Faso’s Reverberating Crisis,” Op-Ed, International New York Times, 14 November 2014.
“Democratic Republic of Congo: Growth for All? Challenges and Opportunities for a New Economic Future.” Brenthurst Foundation, Discussion Paper 6/2014, prepared for the Congo Dialogue, Johannesburg, September 2014.
“To Save Africa, Reject its Nations,” Op-Ed, New York Times, 12 June 2010, A21.
“African States Need Dilution, Not Reconstruction,” International Affairs-Forum, Spring 2010, 91-94.
“Clinton’s Challenge in Congo,” Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor, 10 August 2009.

Featured Work

Majors at Pomona College: International Relations

Professor Englebert explains what makes the International Relations major at Pomona special.

Education

Ph.D., University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California

M.A., Johns Hopkins University (School of Advanced International Studies)
Washington, D.C.

B.A., M.A., Free University of Brussels
Brussels, Belgium

Recent Courses Taught

Advanced Questions in African Politics
Comparative Politics of Africa
Intermediate Senior Seminar in International Relations
Political Economy of Development
Political Economy of African Development (CGU)
Senior Seminar in International Relations and Research Methods
Statistics for Politics & International Relations

Awards & Honors

Pomona College, Wig Distinguished Teacher Award, 2001, 2006, and 2011.

2010 Best Book Award, African Politics Conference Group (APCG), for "Africa: Unity, Sovereignty, and Sorrow"

Fulbright Scholar, Centre d'Etudes d'Afrique Noire, University of Bordeaux, France, 2010-2011

Earhart Foundation Grant, 2009

United States Institute of Peace, Research Grant, 2000-2001

Western Political Science Association, Pi Sigma Alpha Award, 1999

Smith Richardson Junior Faculty Research Grant, 2001