Research

I try to keep this page as current as possible, but feel free to contact me about ongoing research or research in which I may have an interest. My research falls into two general topic areas: international and human security and international political economy. My regional focus is on Africa, though I am interested more broadly in the politics and policies of the developing world.

International & Human Security

My research in international and human security focuses on the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the threats it poses to state and human security. My recent interests in this area focus on why African states have responded differently to the epidemic, where some states have perceived the epidemic as a threat to stability while other states have virtually ignored the epidemic and its consequent problems. I also have research interests in other topics related to African political instabillity including the military, democratic consolidation, civil conflict and natural resources.

Publications and Papers

Ostergard, Robert L., Matthew Tubin, and Erin Schweber. 2008. “The Relationship between HIV/AIDS and Rape: Evidence from South Africa” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco, CA, March.

Ostergard, Robert L. 2008. “HIV/AIDS, the Military, and the Future of Africa’s Security” in Stephen Cummings and Edmund Keller HIV/AIDS, Development and the Next Generation in Africa. Red Sea Press.

Ostergard, Robert L. 2006. “The Failures of America’s Post-Cold War Foreign Policy: From the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Guinea.” Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations Vol. 7 (2): 43-55.

Comparative Politics Workshop, Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania "Leaders and Perceptions in Crisis: An Institutional Framework for Understanding Variations in African Governments Responses to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic. ", Philadelphia, PA., April 13, 2007.

Ostergard, Robert L. (ed) 2007. HIV/AIDS and the Threat to National and International Security. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Laremont, Ricardo R. and Robert L. Ostergard, Jr. 2005. “Ethnic Grievance or Material Greed?” in
Ricardo R. Laremont (ed) Borders, Nationalism and the African State. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

Ostergard, Robert L. 2002. "Politics in the Hot Zone: AIDS and the Threat to Africa’s Security." Third World Quarterly Vol. 23 No. 2: 333-350. Reprinted in Nana Poku and Alan Whiteside (eds) Global Health and Governance: HIV/AIDS, Houndmills: Palgrave MacMillan.

International Political Economy

My dissertation research was on intellectual property rights (IPR) and how IPR affect state development, particularly in developing states. I later narrowed the regional focus and began research on IPR in Africa. The focus on this research has been on patent protection for pharmaceuticals and indigenous IPR problems. My current interest in this area is in developing better measures of IPR protection.

Publications and Papers

Ostergard, Robert L. 2002. The Development Dilemma: The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Rights in the International System. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing.

Ostergard, Robert L., Matthew Tubin, and Patrick Dikkir. 2006. “Between the Sacred and the Secular: Indigenous Intellectual Property, International Markets and the Modern African State.” Journal of Modern African Studies 49 (2): 309-33.

Ostergard, Robert L., Matthew Tubin and Jordan Altman. 2001. "The New Gold Rush: Globalization, Strategic Formation and the Use of Indigenous Intellectual Property in the Biotechnology Industry." Third World Quarterly Vol. 22 No. 4: 643-656.

Ostergard, Robert L. 2000. “The Measurement of Intellectual Property Rights Protection.” Journal of International Business Studies Vol. 31 No. 2: 349-360.

Ostergard, Robert L. 1999. “The Political Economy of the South African-US Patent Conflict” Journal of World Intellectual Property Vol. 2. No. 6.: 875-888.

Ostergard, Robert L. 1999. “Intellectual Property Rights: A Universal Human Right?” Human Rights Quarterly Vol. 21 No. 1: 156-178.