Research — Papers in Progress
My research agenda investigates how credibility, legitimacy, and national values shape the international system. I focus on how both states and multinational corporations project democratic and liberal ideals abroad, and how audiences in developing societies interpret, contest, or resist those claims. By combining survey experiments with qualitative archival research, I examine how domestic political practices, human rights performance, and global economic actors influence the effectiveness of democracy promotion and the spread of values across borders.
When Values Diverge: The Impacts of Western Multinational Corporations on Cultures and Values in the Global South — This project examines how Western multinational corporations influence values in non-Western developing societies. Drawing on archival and qualitative research in South Africa and Nigeria, it investigates how corporate culture, consumer interactions, and branding can transmit Western values through workplaces, lifestyles, and symbols of material progress.
Foreign Aid, Donor Credibility, and the Public Foundations of International Legitimacy — This project explores how people in Nigeria view U.S. democracy and how those perceptions influence their response to American efforts to promote democracy abroad. Using a survey experiment, the study examines if U.S. democratic shortcomings and racial identity-based perceptions shape trust in governance and the credibility of donor states at a time when alternative governance models are gaining traction.
In Word or Deed: The Impact of Human Rights Violations on the United States’ Global Image — This project investigates how human rights violations in the United States, particularly those highlighted during the Black Lives Matter movement, shape how other countries view America’s credibility as a defender of democracy and human rights. Drawing on a survey experiment in Nigeria, the study examines how foreign publics respond when the United States criticizes other governments’ human rights records while failing to uphold the same standards at home.