Dissertation title (tentative):

A New World Economic Geography: ‘Turcos,’ Export Agencies, and the Rise of Arab-South American Relations

In recent years, relations between South America and the Arab world have reached unprecedented heights. Focusing on Brazil, Argentina, and Chile – the three South American countries with the largest amount of economic exchange with the Arab world – this project seeks to analyze this increasingly salient yet oft-ignored axis of relations, as well as to situate them vis-à-vis broader theoretical understandings of global political economy.

Specifically, this research addresses two sets of questions: First, what is the nature of the recent and rapid expansion of Arab-South American relations? In turn, how are these relations significant for our understanding of global political economy and International Relations (IR)? Second, who are the actors behind these relations? How have they fomented these ties, and how do they understand their role in doing so? In regards to the latter, do they see themselves as part of what scholars have theorized as the “transnational capitalist class,” which “operate[s] across state borders to further the interests of global capital” (Carroll 2010; Robinson 2008; Sklair 2001)?

Other research interests include:

• South American, Latin American, and global political economy
• Globalization and transnationalism
• Arab-South American and African-South American relations
• South-South relations
• International Relations of the Global South
• Postcolonialism and International Relations theory
• Chilean politics
• Qualitative and interpretive methodologies