Basil Bastaki

Basil Bastaki's picture
Graduate School Student

Bio:

Broadly speaking, Basil is interested in how organizations impact state formation (i.e. political parties, traditional institutions, armed groups, businesses). His regional focus is Bengal and Northeast India. His approach is post-positivist, broadly realist, and methodologically plural; he is sensitive to case context but oriented to generalization.

For his dissertation, Basil will research the origins of political parties and party systems in the colonial province of Assam. 

Contact:

Education:

  • Language Certificates, The American Institute of Indian Studies (Kolkata) and Gauhati University, 2021-2024
  • M.A. in International Relations, The University of Chicago’s Committee on International Relations, 2020
  • B.S. in Foreign Service, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, 2015

Articles:

  • Bastaki, Basil, Paul Staniland, and Bryan Popoola. “Stabilizing Civil Wars without Peacekeeping: Evidence from South Asia.” International Security 49, no. 1  (Summer 2024)

Fields of Interest:

  • Comparative Politics
  • Formal Theory
  • Qualitative Methods

Languages:

  • Assamese (Intermediate/Advanced)
  • Bengali (Intermediate/Advanced)
  • Arabic (Professional)