Katherine Beall

I’m a PhD in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. My dissertation looks at how states in the global south use regional organizations to assert power and increase their self-determination in the face of external pressure. My broader research focuses on changing norms of intervention and regionalism and how weak states use international institutions differently than strong states.

Prior to coming to Berkeley, I completed a Master’s degree in Human Rights Studies at Columbia University. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas. I also spent time at the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Stockholm Policy Group, and the U.S. Embassy in Croatia.

My research focuses on international and regional law, cooperation, and organizations, with a focus on human rights, development, and the Global South. In my book project, I show that states in the Global South compromised on the norm of non-interference by delegating authority to enforce human rights to their regional organizations in order to increase their self-determination over human rights.