Alexander Cooley is a scholar of international relations whose research examines global authoritarianism, transnational kleptocracy, and the changing international order. His regional expertise centers on Eurasia, particularly Central Asia and the Caucasus, where he has studied how external powers shape governance, sovereignty, and political development in the post-Soviet states.

He is the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard College. At Columbia, he served as Director of the Harriman Institute for the Study of Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe from 2015 to 2021, and as Barnard's Vice Provost for Research and Academic Centers from 2022 to 2025. He currently chairs the Faculty Advisory Board of the Columbia Global Center in Athens and serves on the executive committees of the Harriman Institute and the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, as well as the Committee on Global Thought.

Beyond the Columbia community, he serves as Chair of the American University in Central Asia Foundation. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow for Eurasian Affairs at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a Nonresident Fellow at the Kennan Institute, and an Academy Adjunct Fellow at the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership at Chatham House.

Cooley is the author or co-author of eight books, including Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia (Yale 2017, with John Heathershaw), Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford 2020, with Daniel Nexon), and Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics (Oxford 2025, with Alexander Dukalskis).

His commentary regularly appears in Foreign Affairs and other current affairs publications and he has testified before the United States Congress and the Helsinki Commission. His research has been supported by the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He holds an MA and PhD from Columbia University.

Book and Article Awards

Honorable Mention, EISA Best Article Award (2025), for "Transnational Uncivil Society: Kleptocracy's Global Fightback against Liberal Activism," with John Heathershaw and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, European Journal of International Relations (2024).

Central Eurasian Studies Society Book Award, Shortlist (2018), for Dictators without Borders.

Honorable Mention, Central Eurasian Studies Society Book Prize (2014), for Great Games, Local Rules.

Central Eurasian Studies Society Book Award, Shortlist (2013), for Great Games, Local Rules.

Marshall Shulman Prize, Co-winner (2006), for Logics of Hierarchy (ASEEES, best book in the foreign policy and international relations of the former communist countries).

Named Professorships and Fellowships

Tow Professor for Distinguished Scholars and Practitioners, Barnard College, 2011–2013

Inaugural Global Fellow, Open Society Foundations, 2009–2010

German Marshall Fund of the United States Transatlantic Fellow, 2004–2005

Major Grants

Carnegie Corporation of New York, Principal Investigator, "Russia and the Social Sciences at Columbia University," 2016–2025 (three grant cycles). $2,300,000.

US-Russia Foundation, Principal Investigator, "Shaping an Early Career in Russia and Eurasia: Supporting Harriman's BA-MA Program," 2018–2020. $193,000.

Norwegian Research Council, Co-Investigator, "Undermining Hegemony: The Politics of Asset Substitution," 2015–2018.

Smith Richardson Foundation, Co-Investigator (with Lincoln Mitchell), "Reassessing US-Georgia Relations," 2009–2010.

Smith Richardson Foundation, International Security Grant, "The Global Defence Posture Review: Will New Bases Create Old Political Dilemmas?," 2007.

Teaching Awards

Gladys Brooks Foundation Junior Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, 2006–2007

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics (Oxford 2025)

Undermining American Hegemony: Goods Substitution in World Politics (Cambridge 2021)

Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford 2020)

Dictators Without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia (Yale 2017)

Selected recent commentary, analysis, and interviews.

“Kleptocrat in Chief,” The Mona Charen Show. March 2, 2026. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/kleptocrat-in-chief-w-alexander-cooley

“How Authoritarianism went from Defense to Offense on the World Stage,” The Rhodes Center Podcast with Mark Blyth (discussion of Dictating the Agenda with Mark Blyth) . February 6, 2026. https://rhodes-center-podcast.captivate.fm/episode/how-authoritarianism-went-from-defense-to-offense-on-the-world-stage

The Age of Kleptocracy Foreign Affairs, March/April 2026 With Daniel Nexon. How Trump's foreign policy serves private enrichment over the national interest.

Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarians go on the Offensive, commentary for Columbia Global’s newsletter. February 12, 2026.

Quoted in Axios on University Foreign Funding Data Axios, February 11, 2026. On the Trump administration's release of foreign funding disclosures and how the national data can distort the national security picture.https://www.axios.com/2026/02/11/trump-harvard-stanford-education-department

Book Review Roundtable on Dictating the Agenda Asia Policy (NBR), January 2026. With Alexander Dukalskis. Aurel Croissant, Julia Bader, John J. Chin, Jessica C. Teets, and Emilie M. Hafner-Burton engage with our argument about "authoritarian snapback"—how non-democratic states have repurposed liberal global networks to counter democracy and human rights advocacy. https://www.nbr.org/publication/asia-policy-21-1-january-2026/

Review of Dictating the Agenda Lawfare, October 15, 2025. Moises Naim reviews Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/authoritarian-soft-power

Even in Retreat, America Will Remain Globally Consequential Chicago Council on Global Affairs, December 16, 2025 Analysis on America's evolving global role.

Russia's Hidden Empire Foreign Affairs, April 16, 2025 How Moscow has rekindled its influence across the post-Soviet space.

Trump's Antiliberal Order Foreign Affairs, January/February 2025 With Daniel Nexon. How "America First" undercuts America's strategic advantage.

Authoritarian States Have Powerful Reach—Even in Ireland Irish Examiner, October 9, 2025 With Alexander Dukalskis. How authoritarian influence extends into open democracies.

Global Corruption Would Be Impossible Without Help from the West Promarket, September 15, 2025 On the role of Western enablers in sustaining global kleptocracy.

Alexander Cooley in L'Express L'Express, May 11, 2025 Interview on Russia's hidden influence in the post-Soviet space. (In French)

Delphi Economic Forum: Responses to Polycrises April 2025 Panel discussion on navigating overlapping global crises. (Video)

Selected Past Events

Research Interests

Global Authoritarianism and Democratic Erosion

Kleptocracy and Transnational Corruption

International Order, Hegemony, and Great Power Competition

Eurasian Politics and the Post-Soviet States

The Politics of Foreign Military Bases

Recent & Ongoing projects