Research Affiliate
Dr Brian Klaas is an associate professor of global politics at University College London. His research interests include democracy, authoritarianism, the nature and psychology of power, complex adaptive systems, evolutionary biology, anthropology, as well as the philosophy of science and social science. For his research, Klaas has interviewed roughly 500 powerful individuals in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including former presidents and prime ministers, generals, rebel commanders, coup plotters, torturers, exiled dissidents, as well as CEOs and entrepreneurs.
Klaas is the author of three books about politics (The Despot's Accomplice, Oxford University Press 2016; The Despot's Apprentice, Hurst & Co, 2017; and co-author of How to Rig an Election, Yale University Press 2018) as well as a book about the nature of power (Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us, Simon & Schuster 2021) and a book about contingency, chaos theory, and complex adaptive systems in human society (Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters, Simon & Schuster 2024).
In addition to his academic work, Klaas regularly engages with policymakers and broader audiences, often appearing on national television and radio stations (the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, National Public Radio, Sky News, etc). He was previously a weekly columnist for The Washington Post and is now a writer for The Atlantic magazine. Klaas has advised NATO, the European Union, Amnesty International, the International Crisis Group, and is a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. He is also the creator and host of the award-winning "Power Corrupts" podcast, which has been downloaded roughly three million times.
Klaas received his BA from Carleton College; his MPhil from the University of Oxford (St. Antony's) and his DPhil from the University of Oxford (New College).
