Scholars
Jeff D. Colgan
Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University
Based in
United States
North America
Jeff Colgan is the Richard Holbrooke Associate Professor of Political Science at Brown University and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute of Public and International Affairs. His research focuses on international order, especially as it relates to energy and the environment. His recent book Partial Hegemony: Oil Politics and International Order (Oxford University Press, 2021) investigates how countries and other actors have been able to sustain meaningful international governing arrangements to solve tough problems, and uses that history to consider climate change. His previous book was Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War (Cambridge University Press, 2013). His research has been published in International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, World Politics, Foreign Affairs, and other journals. Prior to Brown University, he worked at McKinsey & Company, the World Bank, and American University. Professor Colgan has a Bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from McMaster University, a Master’s in Public Policy from UC Berkeley, and a PhD from Princeton University.
Publications
Books
Colgan, J. (2013). “Petro-Aggression When Oil Causes War” Cambridge University Press (March 2013).
Colgan, J. (2005). “The Promise and Peril of International Trade” Broadview Press (2005).
Selected Articles
Colgan, Jeff D., et al. “Quantifying the Value of Energy Security: How Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Exploded Europe’s Fossil Fuel Costs.” Energy Research & Social Science, vol. 103, Sept. 2023, p. 103201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103201.
Colgan, J., McFarland, V. (2021). “Oil and Power: The effectiveness of state threats on markets” Review of International Political Economy (December 2021).
Colgan, J., Green, J., and Hale, T. (2020). “Asset Revaluation and the Existential Politics of Climate Change” International Organization (June 2020).
Colgan, J. and M. Hinthorn (2021). “Is Cheap Gasoline Killing Us? Fuel subsidies and under-taxation as a driver of obesity and public health problems worldwide” Energy Research & Social Science (September 2021).
“Oil and Security: The necessity of political economy” (Journal of Global Security Studies 2020).
“Three Visions of International Order” (The Washington Quarterly 2019).
“What Drives Norm Success? Evidence from anti–fossil fuel campaigns” (Global Environmental Politics 2019, with M. Blondeel and T. Van de Graaf).
“Rival Hierarchies and the Origins of Nuclear Technology Sharing” (International Studies Quarterly 2019, with N. Miller).
“American Perspectives and Blind Spots on World Politics” (Journal of Global Security Studies, 2019).
“American Bias in Global Security Studies Data” (Journal of Global Security Studies 2019).
“Climate Change and the Politics of Military Bases” (Global Environmental Politics 2018).
“Energy and International Conflict” (In The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics 2018, with J. Stockbruegger).
“Russian Gas Games or Well-Oiled Conflict? Energy security and the 2014 Ukraine crisis” (Energy Research & Social Science 2017, with T. Van de Graaf).
“Gender Bias in International Relations Graduate Education? New evidence from syllabi” (PS: Political Science & Politics 2017).
“A Crude Reversal: The political economy of the United States crude oil export policy” (Energy Research & Social Science 2017, with T. Van de Graaf).
“Revolutionary Pathways: Leaders and the international impacts of domestic revolutions” (International Interactions 2017, with E. Lucas).
“Where is IR Going? Evidence from graduate training,” (International Studies Quarterly 2016).
“The Abandoned Ice sheet Base at Camp Century, Greenland, in a Warming Climate” (Geophysical Research Letters 2016, with W. Colgan et al).
“Global Energy Governance: a review and research agenda” (Palgrave Communications 2016, with T. Van de Graaf).
“Revolution, Personalist Dictatorships, and International Conflict” (International Organization 2015, with Jessica Weeks).
“Oil, Domestic Conflict, and Opportunities for Democratization” (Journal of Peace Research 2015).
“Mechanisms of Informal Governance: Evidence from the IEA” (Journal of International Relations and Development 2015, with T. Van de Graaf).
“Reflections on the Political Economy of Decolonization” (International History and Politics 2015).
“The Emperor Has No Clothes: The Limits of OPEC” (International Organization 2014).
“Oil, Domestic politics, and International Conflict” (Energy Research & Social Science 2014).
- Reprinted in Steven et al., eds. 2014. The New Politics of Strategic Resources, Brookings Press.
“Fueling the Fire: Pathways from oil to war” (International Security 2013).
Related policy brief: “Oil, Conflict, and U.S. National Interests” (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs 2013).
“Domestic Revolutionary Leaders and International Conflict” (World Politics 2013).
“Protecting Sovereignty, Protecting the Planet: Delegating Authority in Global Environmental Politics” (Governance 2013, with J. Green).
“Punctuated Equilibrium in the Energy Regime Complex” (The Review of International Organizations 2012, with R. Keohane and T. Van de Graaf).
“Measuring Revolution” (Conflict Management and Peace Science 2012).
“Oil and Resource-backed Aggression” (Energy Policy 2011).
“Venezuela and Military Expenditure Data” (Journal of Peace Research 2011).
“Oil and Conflict” (Technical brief for USAID, 2011).
“Oil and Revolutionary Governments: Fuel for international conflict” (International Organization 2010).
“The International Energy Agency – Challenges for the 21st Century” (Global Public Policy Institute Policy Paper Series 2009).
“Green or Greedy? Canada’s Kyoto credits” (Policy Options 2002). View PDF