University

New Professor of International Political Economy

20/09/2021

WU is pleased to welcome Jonas Bunte to the Department of Socioeconomics as its new professor of international political economy.

Jonas Bunte studied philosophy and economics at the University of Bayreuth, development studies at the London School of Economics, and political science at the University of Minnesota (USA), where he also completed his PhD in 2013. In 2013, he was appointed professor of political economy at the School of Economics, Political and Policy Sciences of the University of Texas at Dallas (USA). Simultaneously, he taught at the University of Bayreuth and the University of Marburg (Germany).

International political economy and development policy as research focuses

Jonas Bunte’s research focuses mainly on how finance influences economic developments, political conflicts, and international relations. He has written several papers on this topic. The newly appointed professor: “In my book ‘Raise the Debt – How Developing Countries Choose their Creditors,’ I look at how developing countries respond to credit offers from the Chinese government.” The book received the award for Best Book in International Political Economy of the International Studies Association (ISA). In another project, Jonas Bunte examines how China’s financial diplomacy aims to secure the country military bases abroad. Together with colleagues in the US, he has received nearly $400,000 in external funding for this research. His work has been published in numerous prestigious political science, economics, and interdisciplinary journals.

[Translate to English:] Jonas Bunte

Evaluating arguments as a challenge

Jonas Bunte also wants to contribute his extensive expertise and research findings to teaching: “For me, teaching is more than simple knowledge transfer, so I have developed research-oriented and interdisciplinary teaching concepts. Political economy teaches how economics influences politics and how politics influences economics. This field also poses a challenge: There are often no clear-cut answers about what is right and what is wrong. However, this does not mean that all arguments are equally good: Some arguments are clearly better than others if the logic of their reasoning is more compelling and the evidence is better. However, learning how to evaluate arguments and empirical information is difficult.” Jonas Bunte’s courses help students articulate explanations and identify the most persuasive among competing arguments. He has already received several awards for his teaching, including the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award for excellence in teaching from all public universities in the US state of Texas. 

The new professor on his activities at WU: “As a professor of international political economy, I am looking forward to working in a city that is home to a variety of international organizations. I hope to serve here as a productive link between realpolitik and research.”

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