Atul Kohli

About

Atul Kohli is the David K.E. Bruce Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University, with appointments in the Department of Politics and International Affairs. His principal research interests are in the political economy of developing countries, emphasizing the role of sovereign and effective states in promoting inclusive development. Kohli has authored several influential books, including 'India Under Modi: Changing State and Society' (forthcoming 2025), 'Greed and Guns: Imperial Origins of the Developing World' (2022), 'Imperialism and the Developing World' (2020), and 'Poverty amid Plenty in the New India' (2012). His scholarship explores how imperialism, state capacity, and political power shape development trajectories in the global periphery. Kohli has served as the chief editor of the journal World Politics and was Vice President of the American Political Science Association during 2009-10. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and has been recognized with awards such as the Charles Levine Award for his work on state-directed development.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Computer Science
• History
• Law
• Economics
• Political economy
• Development economics
• Economy

Selected publications

• Unpacking States in the Developing World: Capacity, Performance, and Politics

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2017-02-01 · 97 citations

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Imperialism and the Developing World

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2020 · 85 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract This book is a study of the causes and the consequences of modern imperialism, with a focus on British and US imperialism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, respectively. It analyzes the dynamics of both formal and informal empires. It shows that, time and again, the pursuit of national economic prosperity led hegemonic powers to expand into peripheral areas of the world. Limiting the sovereignty of states on the periphery was the main method of ensuring that peripheral economie…

  PublisherDOI

• Business and Politics in India

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2019-01-02 · 27 citations

  book

  Over the last few decades, politics in India has moved steadily in a probusiness direction. The probusiness shift in India has important implications for both how the world’s largest democracy is governed and for the life-chances of the citizens of that democracy. This volume analyzes the growing power of business groups in the Indian polity. It pursues four research issues aimed at focusing attention on the growing role of business in Indian politics. First, it assesses the power of business gr…

  PublisherDOI

• Chapter Four. Where Do High-Growth Political Economies Come From? The Japanese Lineage of Korea’s “Developmental State”

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2019-11-02 · 20 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Greed and Guns

  2022 · 14 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  This Element studies the causes and the consequences of modern imperialism. The focus is on British and US imperialism in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries respectively. The dynamics of both formal and informal empires are analyzed. The argument is that imperialism is moved mainly by the desire of major powers to enhance their national economic prosperity. They do so by undermining sovereignty in peripheral countries and establishing open economic access. The impact on the countries of…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• George W. Downs

  134 shared

• Kent E. Calder

  132 shared

• Paul E. Sigmund

  131 shared

• Nancy Bermeo

  127 shared

• John Waterbury

  126 shared

• Richard Challener

  124 shared

• Robert L. Tignor

  124 shared

• Jeffrey H. Herbst

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  119 shared

Awards & honors

• Charles H. Levine Award (2005)

Similar researchers at Princeton University

• G. John Ikenberryh-123
• Andrew M. Guessh-33
• Carles Boixh-32