Navin Bapat

Navin A. Bapat is a Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Curriculum of Peace, War, and Defense at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds the Dowd Professorship of Peace and War. Bapat earned his B.A. from the University of Michigan (1998), and M.A. (2000) and Ph.D. (2004) in Political Science from Rice University.

His research focuses on political competition involving non-state actors, including terrorism, insurgencies, and economic sanctions. He has authored Monsters to Destroy: Understanding the War on Terror, which examines U.S. strategic motives in the War on Terror. Bapat leads the Threat and Imposition of Sanctions (TIES) data project, analyzing state use of economic sanctions. He has received NSF grants for studies on sanctions effectiveness and insurgent movement growth.

Bapat teaches courses on terrorism, international conflict, and African security. His awards include recognition for his book by Book Authority. He advises on U.S. foreign policy, transnational terrorism, and sanctions dynamics, and contributes to interdisciplinary research on global security issues.