Nikhil Kalyanpur
Biography
Nikhil Kalyanpur is an Assistant Professor in the International Relations Department of the London School of Economics (LSE).
He researches issues at the intersection of international political economy, business-government relations, law, and global governance.
More specifically, he analyses how the proliferation of global rules and legal forums can serve as a channel for economic protection and a mechanism to target political competition.
His work has been published in a number of leading academic journals including the European Journal of International Relations, International Organization, and Perspectives on Politics.
He uses insights from across the social sciences to analyse contemporary corruption and geopolitics at The Price of Power.
Prior to LSE, he completed his PhD in Government at Georgetown University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University’s Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance.
Interviews
Nikhil Kalyanpur on State Power, Kleptocracy, & Global Finance. Social Science Encyclopedia. May x, 2026.
Publications (selected)
Nikhil Kalyanpur. 2024. “An Illiberal Economic Order: Commitment mechanisms become tools of authoritarian coercion” Review of International Political Economy 30(4) 1238-1254
Paula Ganga and Nikhil Kalyanpur. 2022. “The Limits of Global Property Rights: Evidence from the Yukos Affair”. Energy Policy. 167.
Nikhil Kalyanpur and Abraham Newman. 2021. “The Financialization of International Law.” Perspectives on Politics. 19(3): 773-790.
Filiz Kahraman, Nikhil Kalyanpur and Abraham Newman. 2020. “Domestic Courts, Transnational Law, and International Order.” European Journal of International Relations 26(1): 184-208
- Selected as part of EJIR’s 25th anniversary special issue on interdisciplinary developments in IR theory
Education
PhD Government, Georgetown University
MA Government, Georgetown University
BA Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Brown University
Institutions
London School of Economics
Princeton University’s Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance.
Topics
Economic Statecraft
Business-Government Relations
Global Governance
Wealth Inequality
Rule of Law
Nikhil Kalyanpur and Abraham Newman. 2019. “The MNC-Coalition Paradox: Issue Salience, Foreign Firms, and the General Data Protection Regulation.” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 57(3): 448-467.
Nikhil Kalyanpur and Abraham Newman. 2019. “Mobilizing Market Power: Evidence from firm reactions to Sarbanes-Oxley.” International Organization 73(1): 1-34.
Nikhil Kalyanpur. 2018. “Hegemony, Inequality, and the Quest for Primacy.” Journal of Global Security Studies 3(3): 371-384.
- Selected by the inaugural editorial team as one of the best articles published in the journal’s first four volumes
Nikhil Kalyanpur and Abraham Newman. 2017. “Form over Function in Finance: International Institutional Design by Bricolage.” Review of International Political Economy 24(3) 363-392.
Lori Crasnic, Nikhil Kalyanpur and Abraham Newman. 2017. “Networked Liabilities: Transnational authority in a world of transnational business.” European Journal of International Relations 23(4): 906-929.
Grants & Fellowships
Open Philanthropy Public Impact Grant 2025-Present
LSE Research and Impact Support Fund 2021-2022
Postdoc at the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance 2020-2021
Hopper Memorial Fellowship 2019-2020
Fellow, Mortara Center for International Studies 2016-2020
Georgetown GSAS Graduate Fellowship 2014-2019
Harriman Institute/Carnegie Corp. Research Grant 2018
Georgetown GSAS Dissertation Travel Grant 2018
Georgetown GSAS Conference Travel Grant 2018
Georgetown Summer Co-Authorship Grant 2016, 2017