Afiq's Personal Page

Afiq bin Oslan

Welcome! I am Assistant Professor of International Relations at Webster Vienna (WVPU). I study political economy, writing in wide-ranging topics including as borders, disasters, environmentalism, spies and game theory.

I was previously a postdoc with the Max Planck Society based in Munich. I received my doctorate in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2023.

Click here for my CV, and here for my Google Scholar profile. Contact me at <afiqbinoslan@webster.edu>. Please cite my last name as {bin Oslan}.

News

The Green European Journal posted this short article on how environmental disasters is affecting electoral politics in Europe, with a particular focus on the Netherlands.

I volunteer on the editorial team of IAPSS Politikon---a peer-reviewed, fully free-to-read and fully free-to-publish student journal of political science. If you are looking for an accessible first experience of academic publishing or to turn your thesis/seminar paper into a journal article or to support open access science, we hope you will consider Politikon as an outlet. Click here (and scroll down) for our submission guidelines. Contact <deputy.politikon@iapss.org> for informal inquiries.

Working papers

`When environmental protections backfire at home and abroad.'

`Play nice, party hard,' (with Yixuan Shi).

`Brinkmanship in the public eye,' (with Pei-Yu Wei).

`Invest or incite? Inside the Great Power toolbox,' (with İpek Ece Şener).

Publications

2026, `Shaking up the vote: The electoral impact of induced earthquakes,' in International Political Science Review 47(4): 647-664 (with Jordan H. McAllister). doi.org/10.1177/01925121251397637

2026, `Spies in a barrel: When to reel in espionage,' in Journal of Theoretical Politics 38(2): 87-109 (with T. Ryan Johnson). doi.org/10.1177/09516298251403415

2026, `Liberties and partisanship under straining US-China relations,' in Statistics, Politics and Policy 17(1): 5-17. doi.org/10.1515/spp-2025-0047

2025, `How to smuggle contraband and influence border policy,' in Political Research Quarterly 78(4): 1445-1458. doi.org/10.1177/10659129251366948

2025, `Economic origins of border fortifications,' in Journal of Peace Research 62(4): 882-896. doi.org/10.1177/00223433241265006

2025, `Displacement, not obstruction: Why insecure leaders need not fear free media,' in Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy 6(2): 135-160 (with İpek Ece Şener). doi.org/10.1561/113.00000120

2024, `Persistent and self-perpetuating political differences between neighbouring communities,' in Rationality and Society 36(4): 502-527. doi.org/10.1177/10434631241232754

2021, `Issue ownership and salience shocks: The electoral impact of Australian bushfires,' in Electoral Studies 74 (with Jordan H. McAllister). doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2021.102389