Stanford University

International Development

FSI researchers consider international development from a variety of angles. They analyze ideas such as how public action and good governance are cornerstones of economic prosperity in Mexico and how investments in high school education will improve China’s economy.

They are looking at novel technological interventions to improve rural livelihoods, like the development implications of solar power-generated crop growing in Northern Benin.

FSI academics also assess which political processes yield better access to public services, particularly in developing countries. With a focus on health care, researchers have studied the political incentives to embrace UNICEF’s child survival efforts and how a well-run anti-alcohol policy in Russia affected mortality rates.

FSI’s work on international development also includes training the next generation of leaders through pre- and post-doctoral fellowships as well as the Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program.

CDDRL’s Leadership Academy for Development Announces New Public-Private Partnerships Program with the International Finance Corporation

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The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law’s (CDDRL) Leadership Academy for Development (LAD) is pleased to announce a new partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to deliver a new executive education program for senior public sector leaders and decision-makers in structuring and implementing sustainable Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure development.

LAD is an executive training program for government officials and business leaders from emerging markets and developing economies. Its goal is to help the private sector become a constructive force for economic growth and development. The program teaches carefully selected participants how to be effective reform leaders, promoting sound public policies in sometimes complex settings.

This new partnership will provide case-based, tailored education to senior public sector leaders, leveraging the expertise of Stanford faculty and the IFC’s unparalleled experience in mobilizing private investment for critical infrastructure investments worldwide.

Subject areas include the establishment of strong legal and regulatory frameworks for infrastructure investment, capacity development in public sector PPP institutions, navigating political considerations in infrastructure development, integrating climate and sustainability goals into infrastructure planning, and assessing the costs, benefits, and risks of major infrastructure projects. The program will empower participants with the skills to deliver infrastructure policy solutions and projects that are sustainable, bankable, and which create value for money for their constituents.
 

Program Highlights
 

  • The program will leverage LAD’s Framework for Public Policy Problem Solving. In small groups, participants will apply the Framework to an acute development or policy problem in the infrastructure sector, presenting their conclusions at the end of the course.
  • Case study-based experiential learning is a core component of LAD teaching. Throughout the course, participants will debate and discuss key lessons from infrastructure project case studies in LAD’s case library.
  • Participants will also receive lectures from Stanford faculty on topics ranging from the role of the state in private sector development, PPP structuring and project appraisal, contract oversight and management, project risk assessment, sustainable development metrics in the infrastructure sector, and many others.
     
Our new program with the IFC builds on a decade and a half’s worth of experience in developing mid-career training for public leaders on policy implementation, which has been critical both to economic growth and to democratic legitimacy.
Francis Fukuyama


“Our new program with the IFC builds on a decade and a half’s worth of experience in developing mid-career training for public leaders on policy implementation, which has been critical both to economic growth and to democratic legitimacy,” said Francis Fukuyama, LAD co-founder and Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford University.

“The last decade has been a period of profound change in emerging markets infrastructure finance,” added Michael Bennon, Program Manager for CDDRL’s Global Infrastructure Policy Research Initiative. “This program is so timely because the success or failure of infrastructure development increasingly hinges on the capacity and governance of public institutions.”

“I am delighted that LAD has forged this new partnership with IFC,” shared Kathryn Stoner, Mosbacher Director of CDDRL. “By equipping participants to address immediate infrastructure challenges, this new program will lay a foundation for long-term, sustainable economic development in complex political, cultural, and economic environments.”

About IFC


IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. For more than 60 years, it has leveraged the power of the private sector for global good. Today, it’s using that experience to transform ideas into investments for green growth, inclusive jobs, and impactful projects.

“Delivering strong, bankable PPPs requires planning, strong infrastructure governance, innovative thinking, and close cooperation between partners,” said Linda Munyengeterwa, Global Director of IFC’s Public-Private Partnerships and Corporate Finance Advisory Services. “When it comes to PPPs, governments need to consider all their projects and prioritize and screen projects to determine which are most suited to the PPP model and which are better procured publicly. This training will help key decision makers advance their understanding of key issues affecting the feasibility and success of PPPs to help them leverage their infrastructure programs to better deliver economic and social benefits for their citizens.” 

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Solving Public Policy Problems
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Reimagining Public Policy Education at Stanford and Beyond

The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is proud to announce the launch of a new free massive open online course aimed at providing participants with a foundational knowledge of the best means for enacting effective policy change in their home countries.
Reimagining Public Policy Education at Stanford and Beyond
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Stanford Scholar Issues Call to Action to Protect and Reform the U.S. Civil Service

A new working group led by Francis Fukuyama seeks to protect and reform the U.S. civil service by promoting nonpartisan, effective, and adaptable workforce practices while opposing politicization efforts like "Schedule F."
Stanford Scholar Issues Call to Action to Protect and Reform the U.S. Civil Service
Governance in California
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Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law Releases Policy and Scenario Report on the Future of California's Governance

The research team led by Francis Fukuyama and Michael Bennon examined where California has been, where it’s at, and where it’s headed when it comes to possible scenarios and policy alternatives for the future.
Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law Releases Policy and Scenario Report on the Future of California's Governance
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Launching viaduct bridge in progress for Pune metro rail project in Pune city, Maharashtra, India.
Launching viaduct bridge in progress for Pune metro rail project in Pune city, Maharashtra, India.
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The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law’s (CDDRL) Leadership Academy for Development (LAD) is embarking on a new partnership with the International Finance Corporation to educate senior leaders on infrastructure policy, governance, and public-private partnerships.

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Launching viaduct bridge in progress for Pune metro rail project in Pune city, Maharashtra, India.
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Launching viaduct bridge in progress for Pune metro rail project in Pune city, Maharashtra, India.
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The Transformative Power of Anger Under Authoritarian Repression

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Khushmita Dhabhai
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In a REDS Seminar co-sponsored by CDDRL and The Europe Center (TEC), Cornell Assistant Professor of Political Science Bryn Rosenfeld explored a compelling question: Why do people in authoritarian regimes take bold political actions — such as protesting, voting for the opposition, or criticizing the government — despite the threat of severe consequences? Her research highlights the role of emotions, particularly anger, in motivating these high-risk decisions and provides fresh insights into the dynamics of dissent under repressive regimes.

Rosenfeld challenged the common assumption that high-risk political activism requires strong organizational ties, such as membership in activist groups or networks. While this holds true in some cases, she argued that recent civic uprisings in authoritarian regimes often involve ordinary individuals — novices with no prior links to organized activism. These participants act despite the threat of repression, presenting a puzzle for traditional theories of political participation.

Central to Rosenfeld's argument is the critical role of emotions in shaping political behavior. Authoritarian regimes often use repression as a tool to silence dissent, but her findings show that this strategy frequently backfires by triggering anger. When people experience acts of repression — such as arrests or violence during protests — they often view these actions as deeply unjust, fueling their anger. This anger reduces fear of risks, shifts focus from personal consequences to collective grievances, and creates a sense of urgency to act. As a result, anger motivates bold political actions like protesting or voting against the regime. In contrast, fear amplifies the perception of danger, discourages action, and reinforces passivity. Rosenfeld’s work demonstrates how anger can transform repression into a catalyst for resistance, showing that attempts to suppress dissent often inspire even greater mobilization.

Her research is grounded in extensive data collected between 2021 and 2023 in Russia, a period marked by significant political upheaval, including the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, widespread protests, and the invasion of Ukraine. Through surveys and experiments, she measured participants’ emotions, risk attitudes, and political intentions in response to different scenarios. Participants exposed to information about repression reported higher levels of anger, which translated into a greater willingness to protest or take other political risks. For example, participants in the repression treatment group showed significantly higher risk acceptance scores than those in the control group, highlighting anger’s pivotal role in driving political action.

Rosenfeld’s findings have far-reaching implications. They challenge the assumption that repression is an effective tool for silencing dissent, showing instead that it often fuels resistance by mobilizing anger and encouraging the acceptance of risk. Her work also explains why ordinary citizens — those without activist ties — sometimes take extraordinary risks to stand up to authoritarian regimes. By focusing on the interplay of emotions and risk, Rosenfeld underscores the paradox of repression: rather than quelling dissent, it can inspire ordinary people to take extraordinary risks in the pursuit of justice. Anger, often seen as a destructive force, emerges in her work as a powerful driver of political change.

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Gillian Slee presented her research in a CDDRL seminar on November 7, 2024.
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Home But Not Free: Rule-Breaking and Withdrawal in Reentry

Previous works paint three broad challenges with the parole system: material hardship, negative social networks, and carceral governance. Gillian Slee, Gerhard Casper Postdoctoral Fellow in Rule of Law at CDDRL, proposes a crucial fourth explanation for why re-entry fails: socioemotional dynamics.
Home But Not Free: Rule-Breaking and Withdrawal in Reentry
Klaus Desmet presented his research in a CDDRL seminar on October 24, 2024.
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Polarization in the United States Reconsidered

While many have argued that America has witnessed a shift from disagreements on redistribution to disagreements on culture, Klaus Desmet’s findings indicate otherwise.
Polarization in the United States Reconsidered
Anne Meng (right) presented her research in a CDDRL seminar on October 17, 2024.
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Presidential Election Concessions: Global Trends and New Research Agendas

UVA Associate Professor of Politics Anne Meng’s research seeks to fill a gap of systematic data on post-election concessions worldwide by presenting a comprehensive dataset tracking presidential election concessions from 1980 to 2020 across 107 countries.
Presidential Election Concessions: Global Trends and New Research Agendas
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Bryn Rosenfeld
Bryn Rosenfeld presented her research in a Rethinking European Development and Security (REDS) Seminar, co-sponsored by CDDRL and TEC, on November 14.
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Cornell Assistant Professor of Political Science Bryn Rosenfeld’s work explains why ordinary citizens — those without activist ties — sometimes take extraordinary risks to stand up to authoritarian regimes.

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Juliet Johnson | REDS Seminar — Show Me the Money: Central Bank Museums and Public Trust in Monetary Governance

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Juliet Johnson REDS seminar

I argue that central banks attempt to build public trust in money and monetary governance through the strategic use of what I call a stability narrative, asserting that they can maintain the value of money, can maintain the security of money, represent the nation, and have grown increasingly professional and sophisticated over time. The talk explores the stability narrative by studying its expression in central bank museums. Museums tell stories; they distill, teach, and privilege the beliefs of their creators. As such, museums represent an excellent vehicle for understanding the ways in which central banks describe and promote their ability to govern money. The research is based on interviews and site visits at over 35 central bank museums and an original database that gathers and systematizes publicly available information on central bank museums worldwide.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Juliet Johnson‘s research focuses on the politics of money and identity. She is Professor of Political Science at McGill University, an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and former President of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. She is the author of the award-winning Priests of Prosperity: How Central Bankers Transformed the Postcommunist World (Cornell 2016) and A Fistful of Rubles: The Rise and Fall of the Russian Banking System (Cornell 2000), co-editor of Developments in Russian Politics 10 (Bloomsbury 2024) and Religion and Identity in Modern Russia: The Revival of Orthodoxy and Islam (Routledge 2005), and author of numerous scholarly and policy-oriented articles. She has been Lead Editor of Review of International Political Economy, Network Director of the Jean Monnet network Between the EU and Russia (BEAR), Advisory Council member at the Kennan Institute, Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and National Fellow at the Hoover Institution. She received McGill University’s President’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching, the David Thomson Award for Graduate Supervision and Teaching, the Fieldhouse Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Faculty of Arts Award for Distinction in Research. She earned her PhD in Politics from Princeton University and her AB in International Relations from Stanford University.

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Willliam J. Perry Conference Room in Encina Hall may attend in person.


REDS: RETHINKING EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY


The REDS Seminar Series aims to deepen the research agenda on the new challenges facing Europe, especially on its eastern flank, and to build intellectual and institutional bridges across Stanford University, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to current global challenges.

REDS is organized by The Europe Center and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, and co-sponsored by the Hoover Institution and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

Learn more about REDS and view past seminars here.

 

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Kathryn Stoner
Kathryn Stoner

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to William J. Perry Conference Room in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Juliet Johnson
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Keith Darden | REDS Seminar — The Russian-Ukrainian War and the Re-Nationalization of Europe

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Keith Darden REDS Seminar

War is often a driver of macro-institutional change (Tilly 1975), and it has been suggested that the peculiar, partial, and incremental development of the institutions of the European Union have been due to the absence of major inter-state war in Europe post-1945 (Kelemen and McNamara 2022). The return of inter-state warfare to Europe allows us to examine the effect that heightened military threat and territorial revisionism has European political development. Contrary to some expectations that Europe might achieve greater unity and integration in response to a revived Russian external threat, I find that the ongoing war is driving institutional retrenchment of Europe along national lines for three reasons. First, the war has privileged newer, post-enlargement member states, whose governments and polities do not share the elite anti-nationalist principles that have underpinned the European project since the end of WWII. Second, the emerging re-armament of European states has privileged national actors and national systems of military procurement, with incentives counter to deeper European integration of armed forces and military procurement. Military assistance for Ukraine has primarily been provided through US-coordinated bilateralism rather than European multilateralism or supranationalism. Finally, the war itself has increased the salience of national identity and the normative appeal of nationalism in ways that work against European institutions and will likely put limits on deeper European integration even in an environment of greater military threat. These preliminary findings suggest that, as with other macro-institutional processes (e.g. state-building), existential threat interacts with identity variables to produce institutional outcomes.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Keith Darden (Stanford class of ’92) is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics, Governance and Economics at the School of International Service at American University. His research focuses on nationalism, state-building, and the politics of Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. His book manuscript, Resisting Occupation in Eurasia (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), explores the development of durable national loyalties through education and details how they explain over a century of regional patterns in voting, secession, and armed resistance in Ukraine, Europe, and Eurasia. His award-winning first book, Economic Liberalism and Its Rivals (Cambridge University Press, 2009) explored the formation of international economic institutions among the post-Soviet states, and explained why countries chose to join the Eurasian Customs Union, the WTO, or to eschew participation in any trade institutions. Prof. Darden is co-editor of the Cambridge University Press Book Series Problems of International Politics.

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to William J. Perry Conference Room in Encina Hall may attend in person.


REDS: RETHINKING EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY


The REDS Seminar Series aims to deepen the research agenda on the new challenges facing Europe, especially on its eastern flank, and to build intellectual and institutional bridges across Stanford University, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to current global challenges.

REDS is organized by The Europe Center and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, and co-sponsored by the Hoover Institution and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

Learn more about REDS and view past seminars here.

 

CDDRL, TEC, Hoover, and CREEES logos
Kathryn Stoner
Kathryn Stoner

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to William J. Perry Conference Room in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Keith Darden
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Epidemiological Shocks, Governance, and Extraction in Colonial Mexico

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Alberto Diaz Cayeros seminar

The conquest of the Americas produced a radical transformation of pre-colonial Empires and City States. Europeans established a new institution, the Encomienda, which “entrusted” indigenous communities to individual conquistadores, which resulted in the dismemberment and fragmentation of prior political authority. Using a simple model of temporal horizons and rent extraction, I explore demographic change and epidemic disease after the conquest of Mexico. Data is drawn from the legal and census records of Tepetlaoztoc, a polity within the Acolhua Kingdom, one of the three parts of the Aztec Empire. This rich dataset allows for the reconstruction of demographic change and the calculation of individual and household level epidemiological models. The analysis suggests that the dramatic demographic decline of the 16th century in Mexico, rather than an inevitable result of exposure to unknown pathogens or epidemic diseases beyond human control, was a consequence of colonial rent extraction and the loss of political autonomy and sovereignty.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Alberto Díaz-Cayeros joined the FSI faculty in 2013 after serving for five years as the director of the Center for US-Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He earned his Ph.D at Duke University in 1997. He was an assistant professor of political science at Stanford from 2001-2008, before which he served as an assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Diaz-Cayeros has also served as a researcher at Centro de Investigacion Para el Desarrollo, A.C., in Mexico from 1997-1999. His work has focused on federalism, poverty, and violence in Latin America and Mexico in particular. He has published widely in Spanish and English. His book Federalism, Fiscal Authority and Centralization in Latin America was published by Cambridge University Press in 2007 (reprinted in 2016). His latest book (with Federico Estevez and Beatriz Magaloni) is The Political Logic of Poverty Relief Electoral Strategies and Social Policy in Mexico. His work has primarily focused on federalism, poverty and economic reform in Latin America, and Mexico in particular, with more recent work addressing crime and violence, youth-at-risk, and police professionalization.

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to Willliam J. Perry Conference Room in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Hesham Sallam
Hesham Sallam

Virtual to Public. Only those with an active Stanford ID with access to William J. Perry Conference Room in Encina Hall may attend in person.

Alberto Díaz-Cayeros

Encina Hall, C149
616 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305

(650) 725-0500
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Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science
alberto_diaz-cayeros_2024.jpg MA, PhD

Alberto Díaz-Cayeros is a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and co-director of the Democracy Action Lab (DAL), based at FSI's Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law (CDDRL). His research interests include federalism, poverty relief, indigenous governance, political economy of health, violence, and citizen security in Mexico and Latin America.

He is the author of Federalism, Fiscal Authority and Centralization in Latin America (Cambridge, reedited 2016), coauthored with Federico Estévez and Beatriz Magaloni, of The Political Logic of Poverty Relief (Cambridge, 2016), and of numerous journal articles and book chapters.

He is currently working on a project on cartography and the developmental legacies of colonial rule and governance in indigenous communities in Mexico.

From 2016 to 2023, he was the Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University, and from 2009 to 2013, Director of the Center for US-Mexican Studies at UCSD, the University of California, San Diego.

Affiliated faculty at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law
Co-director, Democracy Action Lab
Director of the Center for Latin American Studies (2016 - 2023)
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Katherine Casey

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Professor of Political Economy, Stanford GSB
Faculty Director, Stanford King Center on Global Development
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Katherine Casey is Professor of Political Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Faculty Director of the King Center on Global Development. Her research explores the interactions between economic and political forces in developing countries, with particular interest in the role of information in enhancing political accountability and the influence of foreign aid on economic development. Her work has appeared in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics, among others. 

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Understanding the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza and Lebanon

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Registration for this event is now closed.

Understanding the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza and Lebanon

On November 13, join CDDRL's Program on Arab Reform and Development for a panel discussion with Stanford alumni and medical professionals who will share perspectives on the humanitarian crises in Gaza and Lebanon and assess international responses to these alarming situations.

PANELISTS:

  • Rajaie Batniji, MD, DPhil, Gaza-born Physician, Entrepreneur and Political Scientist
  • Mohammad Subeh, Emergency Physician and Traumatologist

About the Speakers

Bios have been provided by the speakers.

Rajaie Batniji

Rajaie Batniji

Gaza-born Physician, Entrepreneur and Political Scientist
full bio

Dr. Rajaie Batniji, MD, DPhil, is a Gaza-born physician, entrepreneur, and political scientist. He is the founder of healthcare technology companies, and is currently leading a company that is improving access and care for people covered by Medicaid benefits. As an entrepreneur, he has raised several hundred million dollars to develop and scale technology-enabled solutions for improving American healthcare.

Dr. Batniji is a Board Director at UNRWA USA, Refugees International, and the Gaza Student Support Network. Batniji’s research — including research on health in the occupied Palestinian territory — has been published in top international medical journals, including The Lancet, Health Affairs, British Medical Journal, and the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. His work has also been featured in major media, including the New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, and STAT, among others.

Batniji was previously clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University. He holds BA and MA degrees in History from Stanford University, an MD from the University of California, San Francisco, and a doctorate in Politics and International Relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.

Mohammad Subeh

Mohammad Subeh

Emergency Physician and Traumatologist
full bio

Dr. Mohammad Subeh is an Emergency Physician and Traumatologist with over a decade of humanitarian work delivering critical, time-sensitive healthcare in low-resource environments. Recently, he served on multiple medical missions to Gaza during the Gaza genocide, establishing field hospitals in Rafah and Deir Al-Balah, and recently returned from a medical mission in southern Lebanon. While there, Dr. Subeh treated thousands of patients and witnessed the systematic decimation of the population and infrastructure and the unprecedented obstruction of humanitarian work and aid delivery on the ground.

Dr. Subeh’s research has been published in over 15 peer-reviewed medical journals and 2 textbooks. He has lectured on topics ranging from the use of point-of-care ultrasound technology in managing life-threatening injuries to the long-term epidemiological impacts of natural and man-made disasters on at-risk populations. He advises multiple health tech companies in Silicon Valley. He holds a BS in Human Biology, MA in Sociology, and MS in Epidemiology from Stanford University. He received his Medical Doctorate from Oregon Health and Science University, completed residency in Emergency Medicine at The University of Chicago, and Ultrasound Fellowship at the University of California, Irvine.

Lisa Blaydes

Lisa Blaydes

Professor of Political Science
Moderator
full bio

Dr. Lisa Blaydes is a Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. She is the author of State of Repression: Iraq under Saddam Hussein (Princeton University Press, 2018) and Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt (Cambridge University Press, 2011). Her articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, International Studies Quarterly, International Organization, Journal of Theoretical Politics, Middle East Journal, and World Politics.

Lisa Blaydes
Lisa Blaydes

William J. Perry Conference Room (Encina Hall, 2nd floor, 616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford)

This in-person event is open to Stanford affiliates only.

Rajaie Batniji
Mohammad Subeh
Panel Discussions
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Applications for the 2025 Fisher Family Summer Fellows Program are Now Open

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Nora Sulots
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The Fisher Family Summer Fellows on Democracy and Development Program at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is now accepting applications for our summer 2025 program. The deadline to apply is 5:00 pm PST on Thursday, January 16, 2025.

The program brings together an annual cohort of approximately 30 mid-career practitioners from countries in political transition who are working to advance democratic practices and enact economic and legal reform to promote human development. Launched by CDDRL in 2005, the program was previously known as the Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program. The new name reflects an endowment gift from the Fisher family — Sakurako (Sako), ‘82, and William (Bill), MBA ‘84 — that secures the future of this important and impactful program.

From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, our program participants are selected from among hundreds of applicants every year for the significant contributions they have already made to their societies and their potential to make an even greater impact with some help from Stanford. We aim to give them the opportunity to join a global network of over 500 alumni from 97 countries who have all faced similar sets of challenges in bringing change to their countries.

The Fisher Family Summer Fellows Program provides an intensive 3-week on-campus forum for civil society leaders to exchange experiences and receive academic and policy training to enrich their knowledge and advance their work. Delivered by a leading Stanford faculty team composed of Michael McFaul, Kathryn Stoner, Francis Fukuyama, Larry Diamond, Erik Jensen, and more, the program allows emerging and established global leaders to explore new institutional models and frameworks to enhance their ability to promote good governance, accountable politics, and find new ways to achieve economic development in their home countries.

Prospective fellows from Ukraine are also invited to apply for our Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development (SU-DD) Program, which runs concurrently with the Fisher Family Summer Fellows Program. The SU-DD program provides a unique opportunity for mid-career practitioners working on well-defined projects aimed at strengthening Ukrainian democracy, enhancing human development, and promoting good governance. Applicants to the SU-DD program will use the Fisher Family Summer Fellows Program application portal to apply and indicate their interest there. You will then be directed to a series of supplemental questions specific to the SU-DD program, including requiring a detailed description of your proposed project.

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2024 Fisher Family Summer Fellows
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Spotlight on Summer Fellows

The Fellow Spotlight Series is an inspiring and moving series of "TED"-style talks given by each of our 2024 Fisher Family Summer Fellows to share their backstories and discuss their work.
Spotlight on Summer Fellows
Fisher Family Summer Fellows Class of 2024
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Announcing the 2024 Cohort of the Fisher Family Summer Fellows on Democracy and Development Program

In July 2024, the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law will welcome a diverse cohort of 26 experienced practitioners from 21 countries who are working to advance democratic practices and economic and legal reform in contexts where freedom, human development, and good governance are fragile or at risk.
Announcing the 2024 Cohort of the Fisher Family Summer Fellows on Democracy and Development Program
2023 SU-DD Fellows
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Empowering Ukrainian Democracy: Innovative Training Program Nurtures Projects for Recovery and Development

Meet the six fellows selected to participate in the first cohort of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law’s Strengthening Ukrainian Democracy and Development Program.
Empowering Ukrainian Democracy: Innovative Training Program Nurtures Projects for Recovery and Development
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The program will run from Sunday, July 20, through Friday, August 8, 2025. Applications are due by 5:00 pm PST on Thursday, January 16, 2025.

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The Impact of Regional Conflict in MENA on Authoritarian Stability and Dissent

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The Impact of Regional Conflict in MENA on Authoritarian Stability and Dissent

This panel examines the impact of the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon on regime stability in the region. How have ruling establishments managed popular sentiment and protests as Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon have continued with no end in sight? How have opposition forces and protest movements responded to these developments? What challenges have they faced? What is the relationship between movements in solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon and domestic oppositional politics? The panelists will discuss the major trends and contextualize them in historical perspective.

PANELISTS:

  • Joel Beinin, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus
  • Samia Errazzouki, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History and Humanities Center 
  • Hesham Sallam, Associate Director, Program on Arab Reform and Development


This event is co-sponsored by CDDRL's Program on Arab Reform and Development and Democracy Day at Stanford University.

About the Speakers

Joel Benin

Joel Beinin

Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus
full bio

Joel Beinin is the Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History, Emeritus at Stanford . His research and writing focus on the social and cultural history and political economy of modern Egypt, Palestine, and Israel, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He received his A.B. from Princeton University in 1970, A.M. from Harvard University in 1974, and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1982. He taught at Stanford from 1983 to 2019 with a hiatus as Director of Middle East Studies and Professor of History at the American University in Cairo in 2006-08.

Samia Errazzouki

Samia Errazzouki

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History and Humanities Center
full bio

Samia Errazzouki is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History and Humanities Center at Stanford University. She holds a PhD in History from UC Davis and MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University. She is also the social sciences editor for the Journal of North African Studies and co-editor with Jadaliyya. Samia is a former Morocco-based journalist, where she reported for the Associated Press and, later, for Reuters.

Portrait of Hesham Sallam

Hesham Sallam

Associate Director, Program on Arab Reform and Development
full bio

Hesham Sallam is a Senior Research Scholar at CDDRL, where he serves as Associate Director for Research. He is also Associate Director of the Program on Arab Reform and Development. He is author of Classless Politics: Islamist Movements, the Left, and Authoritarian Legacies in Egypt (Columbia University Press, 2022), co-editor of Struggles for Political Change in the Arab World (University of Michigan Press, 2022), and editor of Egypt's Parliamentary Elections 2011-2012: A Critical Guide to a Changing Political Arena (Tadween Publishing, 2013). Sallam received a Ph.D. in Government (2015) and an M.A. in Arab Studies (2006) from Georgetown University.  
 

Levinthal Hall (424 Santa Teresa St., Stanford)

This in-person event is open to Stanford affiliates only.

Joel Beinin
Samia Errazzouki

Hesham Sallam

Encina Hall, E105
616 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

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Senior Research Scholar
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Hesham Sallam is a Senior Research Scholar at CDDRL, where he serves as Associate Director for Research. He is also Associate Director of the Program on Arab Reform and Development. Sallam is co-editor of Jadaliyya ezine and a former program specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace. His research focuses on political and social development in the Arab World. Sallam’s research has previously received the support of the Social Science Research Council and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He is author of Classless Politics: Islamist Movements, the Left, and Authoritarian Legacies in Egypt (Columbia University Press, 2022), co-editor of Struggles for Political Change in the Arab World (University of Michigan Press, 2022), and editor of Egypt's Parliamentary Elections 2011-2012: A Critical Guide to a Changing Political Arena (Tadween Publishing, 2013). Sallam received a Ph.D. in Government (2015) and an M.A. in Arab Studies (2006) from Georgetown University, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh (2003).

 

Associate Director for Research, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law
Associate Director, Program on Arab Reform and Development
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Hesham Sallam
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Marco Widodo

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CDDRL Honors Student, 2025-26
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Marco is a coterminal M.A. candidate in International Policy on the Governance and Development track. He is concurrently finishing his B.A. in Political Science at Stanford with concentrations in Political Economy & Development and Data Science. Marco is also currently writing an honors thesis with the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), leveraging survey experiments to investigate how different conceptualizations of democracy influence public responses to democratic backsliding in Indonesia.

He has previously worked at the World Bank’s Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) unit and the National Endowment for Democracy’s International Forum for Democratic Studies (IFDS). His research interests lie at the intersection of comparative governance, international political economy, and democratic resilience, having served as a research assistant with both the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab and the Hoover Institution. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to jazz, going camping, and trying out new recipes.

CDDRL Undergraduate Communications Assistant, 2024-25
Master's in International Policy Class of 2027
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