Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o, Ph.D. is Professor of International Studies and former department chair at Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee, where he has taught since 2005. He teaches courses in comparative politics, international relations, and African politics. He has previously taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of Nairobi, and Kenyatta University, both in Kenya. Additionally, Prof. Nasong’o has held prestigious summer fellowships at Riara University, Egerton University, and St. Paul’s University, all in Kenya. A political comparativist, Prof. Nasong’o’s research interest lies in the areas of democratization, identity politics, social conflict, governance, and development. He is author, editor, and co-editor of thirteen books, and dozens of peer reviewed book chapters and articles in refereed journals. His latest publication is a monograph titled Kenya and the Politics of a Postcolony (London: Anthem Press, 2024). For his prolific scholarly work, Prof. Nasong’o has been honored with the Rhodes College’s Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity, and the Ali Mazrui Award for Research and Scholarly Excellence from the University of Texas at Austin.
Caste discrimination or persecution, Deportees/criminal deportees, Disability, Ethnic discrimination or persecution, Ex-combatant reintegration, Forced marriage, Gang-related violence/non-state actors, Gender-based violence/domestic violence, Journalist persecution, LGBTQ, Military/police service, Political persecution, Religious discrimination or persecution, Government/state actor persecution, Risk of retaliation, Safe internal relocation
I have worked on several Georgia related asylum cases.
PUBLICATIONS
Books-Foreign Policy
The Democracy Promotion Paradox (Washington, Brookings Institute Press, 2016)
The Color Revolutions (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012)
Uncertain Democracy: U.S. Foreign Policy and Georgia’s Rose Revolution (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2008)
Books-Urban Politics
The Years Our Mayor: George Moscone and the Making of San Francisco (University of Nevada Press,
2025)
San Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval, Punk Rock and Third Place Baseball Team (Rutgers
University Press, 2019)
Books-Baseball and Social History
The One Hundred Most Important Players in Baseball History (Forthcoming, Artemesia Publishing,
2023)
The Giants and Their City: Major League Baseball in San Francisco, 1976-1992 (Kent State University
Press, 2021)
Baseball Goes West: How the Dodgers and the Giants Shaped the Major Leagues (Kent State
University Press, 2018)
Will Big League Baseball Survive: Globalization, the End of Television, Youth Sports and the Future of
Big League Baseball (Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2016)
Writing Positions
Opinion Contributor, NBC (2022)
Columnist, San Francisco Examiner (2021-2022)
Opinion Contributor, CNN (2020-2022)
The American Angle, Brussels Morning (2020-2022)
North American Political Opinion Correspondent, The European Interest (2018-2020)
Opinion Writer (with Tinatin Japaridze), The Moscow Times (2018-2019)
Opinion Contributor, Reuters (2018-2019)
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National Political Correspondent, The Observer (2014-2016)
Contributor, The Huffington Post (May 2008-2017)
Contributor The Faster Times (May 2009-2012)
Chapters in Edited Volumes
“’Color’ Revolutions: Successes and Limitations of Non-Violent Protest, Jack A. Goldstone, Leonid
Grinin and Andrey Korotayev, eds. New Waves of Revolutions in the 21st Century - Understanding the
Causes and Effects of Disruptive Political Changes Springer, (2022)
“The Role of Public Relations and International Politics in Georgian Democracy Making,”
Tracey German, Stephen F. Jones, Kornely Kakachia, eds. Georgia’s Foreign Policy in the 21st
Century: Challenges for a Small State I.B.Tauris, (2021)
“The Rose Revolution: Georgia and Democratic Spin” in Ben Isakhan, Stephen Stockwell, eds. The
Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (2012].
“What Makes Reform So Difficult: The Case of America’s Cities and Reforming Elites,” in Ronald
Hayduk and Kevin Mattson, eds. Democracy’s Moment: Reforming the American Political System for
the 21 st Century Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield (2002).
Journal Articles (Partial list)
“Actually, San Francisco Isn’t That Liberal and Never Was,” Washington Monthly, December
15, 2022
“Putin’s Orange Obsession,” Foreign Affairs, May 6, 2022
"Regime Evolution in Trump's America: Should We Be Worried?," Columbia University Journal of
Politics and Society, Spring 2018
"Dropping in to See What Condition the Transition Is In: The US, Democratic Development and the
South Caucasus," South Caucasus at a Crossroads: Thorny Realities and Great Expectations (Heinrich
Boell Foundation, 2014)
“Dueling Narratives: Storytelling and Spin in Georgia,” World Affairs Journal (September-October
2013) 80-84
“What’s Next for Georgia? The End of the Rose Revolution,” World Affairs Journal (January-February
2013) 75-82
“The New World of Democracy Promotion,” Current History Vol. 110 No. 739 (November 2011) 311-
316
“Faded Colors,” The American Interest Vol. 6 No. 5 (May/June 2011) 22-28
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“Engagement without Recognition: A New Strategy for Abkhazia and Eurasia’s Unrecognized States,”
Washington Quarterly Vol. 33 No.4 (October 2010) (Co-authored with Alexander Cooley)
“Abkhazia on Three Wheels,” World Policy Journal Vol. 28 No. 2 (Summer 2010) (Co-authored with
Alexander Cooley)
“Toolbox: Georgia’s Territorial Integrity,” American Interest Vol. 5 No. 5 (May/June 2010) (Co-
authored with Alexander Cooley)
“Georgia’s Story: Competing Narratives Since the War,” Survival Vol. 51 No. 4 (August 2009): 87-100
“Compromising Democracy: State Building in Saakashvili’s Georgia,” Central Asian Survey Vol. 28
No. 2 (Summer 2009): 171-183
“Georgia Postbellum,” American Interest. Vol. 4, No. 5 (May/June 2009)
“No Way to Treat Our Friends: Recasting Recent U.S.-Georgia Relations,” Washington Quarterly. Vol.
32, No. 1 (Winter 2008). (Co-authored with Alexander Cooley)
“More than Location: Crafting a US Policy for the Black Sea Region,” Southeast European and Black
Sea Studies. Vol. 8, No. 2 (June 2008): 129-140
“Democracy Bound,” The National Interest. Vol. 95 (May/June 2008): 70-76
“Beyond Bombs and Ballots: Dispelling Myths about Democracy Assistance,” The National Interest.
Vol. 88 (March/April 2007): 32-36
“Democracy in Georgia since the Rose Revolution,” Orbis. Vol. 50, No. 4 (Fall 2006): 669-676
“Georgia’s Rose Revolution,” Current History. Vol. 103, No. 675 (October 2004): 342-348
“Win, Place, Show: Public Opinion Polls and Campaign Contributions in a New York City Election,”
Urban Affairs Review. Vol. 35, No. 4 (2000): 479-501. (Co-authored with E. Scott Adler and Ester
Fuchs)
Commentaries, Online Publications, and Policy Briefs (Partial List)
“Senator Dianne Feinstein faces pressure to end her 30 years representing California,” The
Conversation, April 14, 2022
“Harvey Milk’s murder is a stark reminder of the persistence of police brutality,” The Guardian,
November 27, 2020
“New Yorkers knew Donald Trump first – and they spurned him before many American voters did,”
The Conversation, November 12, 2020
“Demand Respect for Results,” with Jerry Goldfeder, Albany Times Union, October 4, 2020
“How the Coronavirus Has Already Changed Geopolitics,” Inside Over, March 26, 2020
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“From Walter O’Malley to Rob Manfred-Bernie’s Baseball Journey,” Bent Knees and Raised Fists,
January 16, 2020
“Georgia: European Aspirations, Middle Eastern Realities,” Middle East Institute, January 8, 2020
“1978: the year that changed San Francisco forever,” The Guardian, January 5, 2019
“The Caucasus and the Middle East,” Middle East Institute, December 2, 2019
“COLCHIS: Tbilisi’s Protests and the Georgian Dream Political Paradox,” bne IntelliNews, June 25,
2019
“What the Dodgers and Giants’ 1958 Move West Meant for America,” Zocalo Public Square, March 27,
2019
“A Donald Trump coup if he loses in 2020? With all the norms he's busted, don't rule it out,” USA
Today, with Jerry Goldfeder, March 14, 2019
“On the Cyber Battlefield, China, Not Russia, is the Biggest Threat to the U.S.,” The Moscow Times,
with Tinatin Japaridze, February 25, 2019
“Venezuela Sets the Stage for a Putin-Trump Confrontation,” The Moscow Times, with Tinatin
Japaridze, February 13, 2019
“The Perils of Overestimating Putin,” The Moscow Times, with Tinatin Japaridze, January 11, 2019
“Assassinations, Jonestown and a punk-rock revolution: how 1978 changed San Francisco forever,” The
Guardian, January 5, 2019
“The Specter of Russia Hangs Over Georgia’s Presidential Runoff,” The Moscow Times with Tinatin
Japaridze, November 28, 2018
“The Year that Shook Up San Francisco’s Jewish Community,” Tablet Magazine, November 27, 2018
“Commentary: Forty Years On, Moscone-Milk Political Legacy Still Matters,” Reuters, November 26,
2018
“Trump Has Cleared the Way for Russian ‘Hacktivities,” The Moscow Times, October 2, 2018, with
Tinatin Japaridze
“When the Russian Dog Finally Caught Up with the American Car,” The Moscow Times, September 26,
2018, with Tinatin Japaridze
“US-Russia Relations: How 2016 Changed Everything and Nothing,” Russia International Affairs
Council, August 23, 2018, with Tinatin Japaridze
"The Rise and Fall of Mikheil Saakashvili," Al Jazeera, February 20, 2018
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"Does Democracy Still Matter in Georgia," European Democratic Security Network, November 28,
2017
"The Mayor and the Footballer," European Democratic Security Network, November 2, 2017
"The Kremlin and the Panopticon," European Democratic Security Network, October 17, 2017
"Stuck in Neutral: Georgia's Constitutional Reforms," Emerging Europe, July 6, 2017
"Why is This Guy Still Talking About Democracy in Georgia?" Georgia Institute of Politics,
Commentary, March 2017
“Putin’s Risky Bet in Eastern Ukraine,” The Weekly Wonk, April 21, 2014
"Our Dangerous Mistake in Ukraine," The Weekly Wonk, February 27, 2014
"A Tale of Two Ukraines," The Weekly Wonk, February 13, 2014
"Georgia: A Low-Key, but Potentially Pivotal Presidential Contest," Eurasianet, October 25, 2013
"Georgia is not Ukraine and Must Be Given a Chance to Prove It," The Parliament: Politics, Policy and
People September 2, 2013
“The Rose Revolution Through a Fun House Mirror,” The American Interest, April 22, 2013
“Four Observations and Four Questions from the Georgian Elections,” Eurasianet, November 15, 2012
“A Counterproductive Disdain,” The New York Times August 31, 2011 (with Alexander Cooley)
“North Africa Through the Lens of the Color Revolutions,” Eurasianet, February 4, 2011
“A Direct Route to Engagement,” Caucasus Security Insight, October 2010 (with Alexander Cooley)
After the August War: A New Strategy for U.S. Engagement with Georgia Harriman Institute, Columbia
University May 2010 (with Alexander Cooley)
“Georgia Needs a Different Path to Democracy,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 7, 2009 (with
Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff)
“Georgia’s Mutiny Mystery,” Foreign Policy: The Argument May 6, 2009.
“Reeling in Russia,” Washington Post Global, October 30, 2008.
“Viewing Georgia, without the Rose Colored Glasses,” New York Times, September 25, 2008.
“Mad at the U.S., but Still Tied to It,” New York Times, August 13, 2008.
“In Search of a Free Georgia,” Moscow Times, August 11, 2008.
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“Enhancing Democracy Assistance,” American Foreign Policy Interests, Vol. 30, No. 3 (May/June
2008). (Co-authored with David L. Phillips)
“The End of the Rose Era,” Transitions Online, May 27, 2008
“Dour Democrats,” Transitions Online, March 26, 2008
“The Pitfalls of Aid,” Transitions Online, March 18, 2008. (Co-authored with David L. Phillips)
“What was the Rose Revolution For? Understanding the Georgian Revolution,” Harvard International
Review. February 27, 2008
“Inside Track: Beacon of Democracy or Khachapuri Republic?” National Interest Online. December 13,
2008
“Challenges of Supporting Democratic Governance in Fragile Contexts-UNDP,” Transforming Fragile
States-Examples of Practical Experience. Baden-Baden, Nomos (2007)