Clifford Griffin

Clifford E. Griffin is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), North Carolina State University. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Rochester (1989) and specializes in Latin American and Caribbean Political Economy, with research covering crime, security, political development, migration, and regional integration. His work emphasizes transnational crime, drug trafficking, offshore financial services, and democratization processes in the Caribbean.

Education:

• Ph.D. in International Relations, University of Rochester, 1989

Research Interests:

• Crime and Security: Focus on transnational crime networks, drug trafficking, and money laundering
• Migration: Legal and illegal migration dynamics in the Caribbean and Latin America
• Regional Integration: Challenges and paradoxes in CARICOM and Caribbean economic policies
• Democratization: Lessons from the Anglophone Caribbean under neoliberalism

Collaborations:

• University of London’s Institute of the Americas: 'Westminster in the Caribbean' project
• University of São Paulo: 'Building Democracy Daily' and 'Brazil, 25 Years of Democracy' research initiatives
• Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the University of São Paulo’s International Relations Institute (2022–23)

Awards:

• Fulbright Distinguished Chair in International Relations (2022–2023)

Key Contributions:

• Author of three books, including A Historical Dictionary of United States-Caribbean Relations (2017)
• Over 40 peer-reviewed articles in journals like the Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics and Journal of Democracy
• Contributing Editor to the Library of Congress’s Handbook of Latin American Studies