Contact Information

Clifford Bob is professor and chair of political science and the Raymond J. Kelley Endowed Chair in International Relations at Duquesne University.  He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a J.D. from New York University, and a B.A. magna cum laude in social studies from Harvard University.  Dr. Bob joined Duquesne in 1999.  He teaches about developing countries, human rights, civil liberties, foreign policy, activism, and media.  He enjoys mentoring students about law, politics, and other careers and discussing current national and international affairs with them.  Please drop by for a chat!
 
Dr. Bob has written several books including: The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Support (Cambridge University Press, 2005), winner of the International Studies Association (ISA) Book of the Year Award; The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics (Cambridge, 2012), co-winner of the ISA Book of the Decade Award; and Rights as Weapons: Instruments of Conflict, Tools of Power (Princeton University Press, 2019).  Dr. Bob edited a book, The International Struggle for New Human Rights (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012), and has written many scholarly and policy articles including for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Los Angeles Times, International Herald Tribune, Foreign Policy, and other outlets.  Dr. Bob has won fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, American Council of Learned Societies, U.S. Institute of Peace, Transatlantic Academy, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Fulbright Global Scholar program.

School

GRADUATE COURSES

  • Human Rights: Politics and Policy
  • Ethnic Conflict: Politics and Policy
  • Global Public Policy
  • Global Civil Society
  • Terrorism

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

  • International Relations
  • International Law and Organization
  • Theories of Comparative Government
  • Human Security in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Asian Politics
  • Comparative Political Systems: Developing States
  • Comparative Political Systems: Advanced Industrial States
  • Current Problems in International Affairs

BOOKS

  • Rights as Weapons: Instruments of Conflict, Tools of Power (Princeton University Press, 2019) 
  • The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics, Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2012). Reviewed in Foreign Affairs (review essay by Walter Russell Mead), International Studies Review, Human Rights Quarterly, Political Studies Review, Interest Groups & Advocacy, Mobilization, Acta Sociologica, Choice, Journal of Church & State
  • The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Activism, Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2005) (cloth and paper) Best Book Award, International Studies Association, 2007 Scholarly Achievement Award, North Central Sociological Association, 2007 (co-winner) A "Top Book of 2006," The Globalist. Reviewed in Perspectives on Politics, World Politics, International Studies Review, Contemporary Sociology, Journal of Conflict Studies, Political Studies Review, American Journal of Sociology, Political Communication, Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Global Governance, Journal of International Law & Politics, Voluntas, Nations and Nationalism, Sociological Forum, Mobilization, Review of International Organization, Peace and Conflict Review, Global Social Policy, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, African Studies Quarterly, The Australian, Utne Magazine, Choice

EDITED BOOK

  • The International Struggle for New Human Rights, Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009) (editor; chapter author) (cloth and paper)
    Reviewed in Human Rights Quarterly, H-Net, International Sociology

PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES

  • The Global Battle over Religious Expression: Sweden's Homophobic Hate Speech Law in Local and Transnational Perspective, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 14: 2 (2014), 212-29
  • The Global Right Wing and Theories of Transnational Activism, The International Spectator: Italian Journal of International Affairs 48: 4 (2013), 71-85
  • La problemática de los nuevos derechos humanos, Colombia Internacional 69 (June 2009), 14-35 (lead)
  • Kill a Leader, Murder a Movement? Leadership and Assassination in Social Movements, American Behavioral Scientist 50: 10 (June 2007) (co-author with S.E. Nepstad), 1370-94
  • ‘Dalit Rights are Human Rights!' Caste Discrimination, International Activism, and the Construction of a New Human Rights Issue, Human Rights Quarterly 29: 1 (Feb. 2007), 167-93
  • When Do Leaders Matter? Hypotheses on Leadership Dynamics in Social Movements, Mobilization 11: 1 (Mar. 2006), 1-22 (lead article; co-author with S.E. Nepstad); featured in Contexts Magazine 7: 1, 3
  • Political Process Theory and Transnational Movements: Dialectics of Protest among Nigeria's Ogoni Minority, Social Problems 49: 3 (Aug. 2002), 395-415; reprinted in J. Goodwin and J. Jasper, eds., Social Movements: Critical Concepts in Sociology (Routledge: 2007)
  • Overcoming Indifference: Internationalizing Human Rights Violations in Rural Mexico, Journal of Human Rights 1: 2 (June 2002), 247-61
  • Marketing Rebellion: Insurgent Groups, International Media, and NGO Support, International Politics 38: 3 (Sept. 2001), 311-334 (lead)
  • A Question and an Argument: Enhancing Student Writing through Guided Research Assignments, PS: Political Science & Politics 34: 3 (Sept. 2001), 653-55 (lead article, "The Teacher" section)
  • The Return of Humpty-Dumpty: Foreign Relations Law after the Chadha Case, American Journal of International Law 79: 4 (1985), 912-60 (co-author with T.M. Franck); excerpted in T.M. Franck and M. Glennon, Foreign Relations and National Security Law, 2nd ed. (West Publishing, 1993)

BOOK CHAPTERS

  • Social Movements and Transnational Context: Institutions, Strategies, and Conflicts, chapter in D. Snow, S. Soule, H. Kriesi, and H. McCammon, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Social Movements (Wiley-Blackwell, 2018), 115-30
  • Rival Networks and the Conflict over Assassination/Targeted Killing, chapter in A. Bloomfield and S. Scott, eds., Norm Antipreneurs: The Politics of Resistance to Global Normative Change (Routledge, 2016), 72-88.
  • Foreign Government Support for Threatened Civil Societies: Helpful or Harmful?, chapter in R. Marchetti, ed., Partnerships in EU and Global Policy-Making (Palgrave, 2016), 257-73.
  • Gay versus Anti-Gay Players in International Contention, in Jan Willem Duyvendak and James M. Jasper, eds., Breaking Down the State: Protestors Engaged (Amsterdam University Press: Protest and Social Movements Series, 2015 ), 205-24
  • Religious Activists and Foreign Policy in the West, in M. Barnett, C. Bob, N.F. Onar, A. Jenichen, M. Leigh, and L.N. Leustean, eds., Faith, Freedom, and Foreign Policy: Challenges for the Transatlantic Community, Transatlantic Academy, 2015, 94-111
  • The Transnational Battle over Gun Control: Implications for NGO Governance, in R. B. Hall, ed., Reducing Armed Violence with NGO Governance (Routledge, Global Institutions Series, 2014), 133-45
  • Civil and Uncivil Society, M. D. Edwards, ed., Oxford Handbook of Civil Society (Oxford University Press, 2011), 209-19
  • The Market for Human Rights, in A. Prakash and M.K. Gugerty, eds., Advocacy Organizations and Collective Action (Cambridge University Press, 2010), 133-54
  • Packing Heat: Pro-Gun Groups as Global Governors in Small Arms Control, in D.D. Avant, M. Finnemore, and S.K. Sell, eds., Who Governs the Globe? Cambridge Studies in International Relations, No. 114, (Cambridge University Press, 2010), 183-201
  • Conservative Forces, Communications, and Global Civil Society: Toward Conflictive Democracy, in M. Albrow, H. Anheier, M. Glasius, M. Price, and M. Kaldor, eds., Global Civil Society 2007/8: Communicative Power and Democracy (London School of Economics Center for the Study of Global Governance/UCLA Center for Civil Society/Sage Publishers, 2007), 198-203
  • Globalization and the Social Construction of Human Rights Campaigns, in A. Brysk, ed., Globalization and Human Rights (University of California Press, 2002), 133-47
  • Beyond Transparency: Visibility and Fit in the Internationalization of Internal Conflict, in B.I. Finel and K.M. Lord, eds., Power and Conflict in the Age of Transparency (Palgrave/St. Martin's Press, 2000; paperback reissue 2002), 287-314

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

  • Self-Inflicted Wounds: The War on Terror's Continuing Toll on Civil Liberties, The State of the Transatlantic World 2015 (Transatlantic Academy, 2015), 82-85
  • Ken Saro-Wiwa, "The Coming War in the Delta," introduction in A. Schiffrin, ed., Global Muckraking: 100 Years of Investigative Journalism from Around the World (New Press, 2014), 117-19
  • What Rouses Global Civil Society? Global Civil Society: Shifting Powers in a Shifting World, Conference Proceedings, Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development (2012), 83-90
  • Bringing Human Rights Home? The Promises and Pitfalls of Rights Strategies in American Social Justice Advocacy, American Society of International Law Proceedings of the101st Annual Meeting (2008), 22-24
  • Dalit Rights on the International Stage, Dalit International Newsletter 11: 3 (Oct. 2006), 5-7.
  • Merchants of Morality, Foreign Policy 129, Mar./Apr. 2002, 36-45 (cover article; summarized in Chronicle of Higher Education online; featured in Arts & Letters Daily, Electronic Policy Network, Alternet) (Mar./Apr. 2002 issue was one of three issues submitted by Foreign Policy to win the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence)
  • The Global Morality Market, Social Policy 32: 4 (2002), 37-42 (adaptation of Merchants of Morality)
  • Singapore, chapter in Lawyers Committee on Human Rights, ed., Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989 (New York: Lawyers Committee on Human Rights, 1990) (co-author)

INVITED ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

  • Exploitation Creep in American Journal of International Law Unbound, http://www.asil.org/blogs/re-framing-exploitation-creep-fight-human-trafficking-response-janie-chuang
  • Fighting Abuses in Existing Powers, Open Global Rights, Sept. 24, 2013, http://www.opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights/clifford-bob/fighting-abuses-in-existing-powers
  • Engagement for Whose Good? The Immanent Frame: Secularism, Religion, and the Public Sphere, Social Science Research Council, June 2, 2010, http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/author/bobc/
  • Government, Civil Society and Religious Freedom, The Immanent Frame: Secularism, Religion, and the Public Sphere, Social Science Research Council, Mar. 12, 2010, http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/author/bobc/

BLOG POSTS

  • Religious Freedom vs. Gay Rights in Indiana, Transatlantic Academy Blog, Apr. 15, 2015, http://www.transatlanticacademy.org/node/799
  • Obama Program Threatens Civil Society Abroad, Transatlantic Academy Blog, Oct. 2, 2014, http://www.transatlanticacademy.org/node/732

MEDIA PUBLICATIONS/APPEARANCES

  • Conservative Causes Go Global, Yale Global Online Magazine, Jan. 16, 2013 (cover story) (reprinted in Epoch Times, Jakarta Globe, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
  • Weekend Edition, National Public Radio, book interview with Scott Simon, April 22, 2006
  • Midmorning, Minnesota Public Radio, featured author (one hour), March 7, 2006
  • Marketing Humanitarian Crises, Yale Global Online Magazine, February 21, 2006 (cover story) (reprinted in International Herald Tribune, South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Daily Mail (Islamabad), La Vanguardia (Spain); reprinted in N. Chanda and S. Froetschel, eds., A World Connected: Globalization in the 21st Century (Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, 2012)
  • Slum Survivor, Los Angeles Times, June 3, 2002 (op. ed.), reprinted in San Francisco Examiner, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (online edition), Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Sidney Morning Herald (Australia), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale)
  • Merchants of Morality, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 5, 2002 (op. ed.) (adaptation of Foreign Policy article)
  • CNN & Company, panelist, April 19, 1999; May 3, 1999; May 17, 1999.
  • Norm Assassination: The Rise of Targeted Killing and the Fall of Anti-Assassination Norms. Frankfurt Peace Research Institute, July 21, 2015
  • Wielding the Rights Crowbar in Political Conflict. German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, July 13, 2015
  • Foreign Government Support for Threatened Civil Societies: Helpful or Harmful? Conference on Risks and Opportunities in the Civil Society-Public Institutions Relationship. LUISS University School of Government and Department of Political Science, May 7-9 2015
  • Wielding the Rights Crowbar in Political Conflict. Columbia University International Politics Seminar, Apr. 23, 2015
  • Generation, Diffusion, and Institutionalization of Secrecy Norms in International Society. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Secrecy, Privacy, & International Relations workshop, Apr. 17. 2015
  • Freedom of Religion as a Political Weapon: Contending Transnational Networks in Italy's Lautsi Case. Transatlantic Academy Workshop on Religion in EU and U.S. Foreign Policy, Apr. 13, 2015
  • Wielding the Rights Crowbar in Political Conflict. George Washington University Political Science Speaker series, Mar. 27, 2015International Institutions, Religious Freedom, and National Practices: Implications of Italy's Lautsi Case. International Studies Association annual meeting, Feb. 18, 2015 (panel)
  • Norm Assassination: The Rise of Targeted Killing and the Fall of Human Rights. International Studies Association annual meeting, Feb. 18, 2015 (panel)
  • Learning from the Law: Using Rules of Evidence to Improve Political Science Research. American Political Science Association annual meeting, Aug. 30, 2014 (panel)
  • Global Muckraking and the Ogoni Conflict. New America Foundation, Nov. 17, 2014
  • Religious Groups in Foreign Policy Making. Atlantic Dialogues, Marrakech, Morocco, Oct. 25, 2014
  • Rights as Weapons: The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics. Oxford University, Merton College International Relations Group, May 27, 2014
  • The Strategic Deployment of Rights. School of Oriental and African Studies (London), Centre for International International Relations Speakers Series, May 22, 2014
  • The Marketing of Rebellion. U.S. Department of State, Virtual Student Foreign Service Lecture Series on Social Movements and Political Change, Apr. 17, 2014
  • Human Rights Promoted and Attacked. International Studies Association annual meeting, Mar. 28, 2014 (panel)
    Targeted Killing: A New Norm, Its Promoters, and Its Opponents. Workshop on "Norm Anti-Preneurs," International Studies Association annual meeting, Mar. 25, 2014 (panel)
  • Rule, Resistance and Authority in International Relations. Goethe University (Frankfurt), Normative Orders Cluster of Excellence, Jan. 22, 2014
    Marketing Humanitarian Causes. Bologna University (Italy), Jan. 21, 2014
  • The Strategic Deployment of Rights. American Political Science Association annual meeting, Aug. 31, 2013 (panel)
  • The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics. Graduate School of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto), May 29, 2013
  • Rights as Weapons. Batten School of Public Policy, University of Virginia, May 2, 2013
  • Rights as Weapons in Political Conflict. International Studies Association annual meeting, Apr. 5, 2013 (panel)
  • Hypotheses on Transnational Policy Networks. Conference on Financial Stability and Energy Security in the Americas and Europe: The Role of Transnational Policy Networks, Boston University, Feb. 15, 2013
  • Backlashes to LGBT Rights and Strategies to Counter Them. Conference on Interdisciplinary Perspectives on LGBT Human Rights Advocacy, Duke University, Feb. 8, 2013
  • Rights as Weapons in Political Conflict. Colloquium in Ethics, Politics and Society, Luiss University School of Government (Rome), Dec. 6, 2012
  • Rights as Weapons in Political Conflict. Seminar on Changing Democracies, European University Institute (Florence), Nov. 26, 2012
  • Right Wing Civil Society and the Global Fight against Gay Rights. Workshop on Civil Society and Global Politics, Luiss University School of Government (Rome), Oct. 12, 2012
  • The Baptist-Burqa Network: Coalitions of Convenience and Implications for Transnational Politics. Italian Political Science Association annual meeting, Sept. 14, 2012 (panel)
  • For God's Sake: Transnational Activism and Local Religious Conflict. Italian Political Science Association annual meeting, Sept. 13, 2012 (panel)
  • The Transnational Battle over Gun Control: Implications for NGO Governance. Oxford University, Department of International Development Conference on Reducing Armed Violence with NGO Governance, June 3, 2012
  • Rights as Weapons in Political Conflict. George Washington University, Institute for Global and International Studies Research Seminar Series, March 1, 2012
  • Fighting for Rights: Gay vs. Anti-Gay Players in International Arenas. Eastern Sociological Society annual meeting, Feb. 24, 2012 (panel)
  • When Rights Become Weapons: Comparative Insights from Europe, the United States, and Elsewhere. University of Pennsylvania, Penn Comparative Politics Workshop, Oct. 19, 2011
  • Gay Rights vs. the Baptist-Burqa Network: The Battle over International Law. Northwestern University International Law & International Organizations Working Group, Apr. 27, 2011
  • Conflict of Values and NGO Governance. Oxford University, Department of International Development conference on Reducing Armed Violence with NGO Governance, Apr. 16, 2011
  • Local Protest and Transnational Activism: Setting the Agenda in the Age of the Internet. Uppsala University Centre for Sustainable Development, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) conference on Global Civil Society: Shifting Powers in a Shifting World, Apr. 12-13, 2011
  • International Norm Contestation and Political Change. International Studies Association annual meeting, Mar. 18, 2011 (panel)
  • Globalizing the Culture Wars: The Transnational Battle over Sexual Rights. American Political Science Association annual meeting, Sept. 2, 2010 (panel)
  • Litigating for the Lord: Religious Conservatives, Transnational Legal Advocacy, and Battles over the Family. International Studies Association annual meeting, Feb. 20, 2010 (panel)
  • Transatlantic Academy: Fellowship, 2014-15, for book project, Faith, Freedom and Foreign Policy:
  • American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS): Fellowship, 2007-08, for book project, Globalizing the Right-Wing: Conservative Activism and World Politics
  • Smith Richardson Foundation: Junior Faculty Fellowship in International Security, 2003
  • United States Institute of Peace: Solicited Grants in Nonviolent Conflict Resolution, 2003
  • Carr Center for Human Rights, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University: Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 1998-99
  • Albert Einstein Institution: Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Nonviolent Conflict Studies at Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 1997-98
  • Harvard-MIT MacArthur Transnational Security Program, Doctoral Fellowship, 1996-97
  • Social Science Research Council/American Council of Learned Societies: International Doctoral Research Fellowship in Southeast Asian Studies, 1994
  • Social Science Research Council/American Council of Learned Societies: Predissertation Fellowship, 1992
  • For The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Activism
    Best Book Award, International Studies Association, 2007
    Scholarly Achievement Award, North Central Sociological Association, 2007 (co-winner)
    A "Top Book of 2006," The Globalist
  • Oxford University Press, Founding Co-Editor of Oxford Studies in Culture & Politics book series
  • Guest Researcher, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (Frankfurt, Germany), July 2015
  • Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Academy (Washington, DC), 2014-15
  • Visiting Professor, Graduate School of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto), June 2013
  • Duquesne University, McAnulty College Summer Grant Writing Award, 2013
  • Duquesne University, Africa Studies Program, Course Development Grant, 2012
  • Duquesne University, Wimmer Family Foundation Course Development Award, 2007
  • Duquesne University, Faculty Development Fund Award, 2006, 2011
  • Duquesne University, Russo Family Foundation Award, 2005
  • Duquesne University, Presidential Scholarship, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010