Jeremy Weinstein

Jeremy Weinstein is a professor of political science, the Fisher Family Director of Stanford Global Studies, a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University. He also is faculty co-director of the Immigration Policy Lab and the Data for Development Initiative at the King Center. In addition, he is a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C., is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on a number of non-profit boards and advisory groups. He obtained a BA with high honors from Swarthmore College, and an MA and PhD in political economy and government from Harvard University. 

Weinstein’s research focuses on civil wars, political violence, ethnic politics, the political economy of development, democracy, and migration. His books, Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence and Coethnicity: Diversity and the Dilemmas of Collective Action, received the William Riker Prize and the Gregory Luebbert Award, respectively. He has also received the International Studies Association’s Karl Deutsch Award and the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford. His articles have been published in numerous journals including the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Foreign Affairs, and the SAIS Review.

Weinstein has worked at the highest levels of government on major foreign policy and national security challenges, engaging in both global diplomacy and national policy-making. Between 2013 and 2015, Weinstein served as the deputy to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; before that, he was the chief of staff at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. During President Obama’s first term, Weinstein served as director for development and democracy on the National Security Council staff at the White House. Before joining the White House staff, Weinstein served as an advisor to the Obama campaign and as a member of the National Security Policy Working Group and the Foreign Assistance Agency Review Team.

King Center Supported Research

2023 - 2024 Academic Year | Global Development Research Funding

What Drives Backlash Against Progressive Refugee Policies? Evidence from Kenya

There are growing calls for governments to grant greater rights to refugees, particularly in the Global South, which hosts a majority of the world’s refugees. Yet we know little about how the adoption of progressive refugee policies affects host citizens, and how they respond. This study exploits a unique policy change in Kenya to capture and explain support for, and resistance to, refugee policy liberalization, and the real and perceived effects of liberalization on host communities in real time. Kenya’s new Refugee Act will strengthen refugees’ right to employment, access to documentation, and freedom of movement. By conducting nationally-representative surveys before and after the Act’s implementation, we will identify changes in public attitudes towards refugees, support for government and its policies, and the perceived impact of refugee hosting on citizens. We will complement the survey with administrative data, including economic and security outcomes and refugee movements, and interviews with policymakers and NGOs. This will allow us to analyze the drivers of public backlash or welcoming attitudes in the wake of progressive refugee policy implementation.