Michael L. Ross

Ross is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles and Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. 

His 2012 book, The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations (Princeton University Press) was named as an "Outstanding Academic Title" by Choice magazine.   Russian and Arabic translations are forthcoming.  For a selection of reviews and media coverage, click on The Oil Curse page to the left.

Ross has published widely on the political and economic problems of resource-rich countries, civil war, democratization, and gender rights; his articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Annual Review of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, International Organization, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Politics and Gender, Quarterly Journal of Political Science, and World Politics.  In 2009, he received the Heinz Eulau Award from the American Political Science Association for the best article published in the American Political Science Review.

His work has also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Harper's, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and been featured in The Washington Post, Newsweek, Financial Times, and many other publications.

Ross currently serves on the advisory boards of the Revenue Watch Institute, the Natural Resource Charter, and Clean Trade; he was previously a member of the Advisory Group for the World Bank's Extractive Industries Review.  He is also a member of the Political Instability Task Force and the APSA Task Force on Democracy Audits and Governmental Indicators.  In December 2012, he was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to a three-year term on the US Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Advisory Committee.