Research

My research centers on state responses to political threats and their enduring consequences. I leverage comprehensive area knowledge, proficiency in GIS, expertise in archival digitization, and statistical acumen to analyze how political elites react to both domestic and international threats. I investigate the policies they enact and explore the lasting consequences of their actions.

Books

1. Popescu, Bogdan G. 2024. Imperial Borderlands: Institutions and Legacies of the Habsburg Military Frontier. Cambridge University Press. Read the table of contents and intro.

• Harvard University’s Davis Center 2024 Book Prize Honorable mention for an outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eurasia, or Eastern Europe in anthropology, political science, sociology, or geography

2. Popescu, Bogdan G. Islam, Sultans, and the Printing Press. Under Review. Read the table of contents and intro.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

1. Popescu, Bogdan G. and Jugl, Marlene, 2025. Civic Associations, Populism, and (Un-)Civic Behavior: Evidence from Germany. Political Science Research and Methods. 13(1): 150-166. Journal Version | PDF

2. Mağiya, Yusuf, Popescu, Bogdan G., and Tezcür, Güneş. 2024. “All the Sultan’s Men: Regime Type, Insecurity, and the Shuffling of Governors.” Comparative Political Studies. 57(13): 2087-2117. Journal Version | PDF

3. Popescu, Bogdan G. 2023. “The Developmental Legacies of Border Buffer Zones: the Case of Military Colonialism.” Journal of Historical Political Economy. 3(1): 31-63. Journal Version | PDF

4. Popescu, Bogdan G. and Popa, Mircea. 2022. “Imperial Rule and Long-run Development: Evidence on the Role of Human Capital in the Ottoman Europe.” Comparative Political Studies. 55(11): 1910-1946. Journal Version | PDF

• James Caporaso Award for Best Article published in CPS in 2022

5. Cremin, Maura and Popescu, Bogdan G., 2021. “Sticks and Stones? Connecting Insurgent Propaganda with Violent Outcomes,” Journal of Conflict Resolution . 66(3): 504-528. Journal Version | PDF

6. Albertus, Mike and Popescu, Bogdan G., 2020. “Does Equalizing Assets Spur Development? Evidence From Large-Scale Land Reform in Peru,” Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 15(2): 255-295. Journal Version | PDF

Working Papers

Frontiers of Resilience: Borders as Strategic Buffers (with Harunobu Saijo (Hiroshima University), Crystal Jing Xu (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Anna Zhang (Facebook))

Cuius Regio, Eius Religio: Indirect Rule and Conversion to Islam in the Early Ottoman Empire

God Save the Queen’s English! How Industrial Revolution Migration Shaped the English Language

Communism and Development: Legacies of Collectivization in Romania (with Leonid Peisakhin (NYU))