Baba Adou

Welcome! I am a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Florida, specializing in Comparative Politics and International Relations, with a regional focus on the African Sahel and North Africa. My research examines how political authority is contested and legitimated under changing political conditions. One important strand of this work focuses on the relationship between political and religious authority, particularly how religiously framed insurgencies and related security threats prompt Muslim-majority states to mobilize religious authority and how these interventions reshape state–Islam relations.

My dissertation develops a comparative historical analysis of Mali and Mauritania to examine these dynamics. More broadly, my research also addresses civil–military relations, political parties, and post-coup transitions in West Africa. My article on political parties and post-coup electoral legitimation in Guinea, Gabon, and Niger is currently at the revise-and-resubmit stage at African Studies Review.

Since 2021, I have served as a Graduate Research Associate with the University of Florida’s Sahel Research Group. In this role, I contribute to interdisciplinary research on politics, conflict, and governance across the Francophone Sahel, produce analytical briefs and newsletters, and help organize seminars, workshops, and policy-oriented events.

I have also worked as a Graduate Research Assistant with the University of Florida’s Center for Global Islamic Studies and as a researcher with Afrobarometer, producing policy-relevant research on African public opinion. My work has appeared in POMEPS Studies, Souffles Monde, the Africa Yearbook, and other academic and policy outlets. I have also contributed country analysis and expert assessments to V-Dem, Freedom House, and the Bertelsmann Transformation Index.

Before beginning my doctoral studies, I taught for more than six years at the college level in Mauritania, including at the Higher Institute of English and the University of Nouakchott. At the Higher Institute of English, I taught and mentored undergraduate students and working professionals and contributed to curriculum development. I hold an M.A. in Global and International Studies from the University of Kansas, where I studied as a Fulbright Scholar, and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Nouakchott.