A scholar of global development, Muhammad Tayyab Safdar specializes in studying the impact of globalization on the local political economies of developing countries. His current research examines the implications of China’s rise in power on developing countries. Empirically grounded in South Asia, the research explores the strategies of cooperation and contestation that are used by the elite actors in smaller countries in their relations with emerging powers like China.

Safdar holds a Master of Philosophy degree and a Ph.D. in development studies from the University of Cambridge (2016). He holds an MBA (2008) from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology (2004), Lahore, Pakistan. Safdar was the inaugural BRI Post Doctoral Researcher with UVA’s East Asia Center and has previously held positions at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

As an assistant professor with the College of Arts & Sciences, Safdar will teach courses in the global studies security and justice track, and this fall, he will teach a course titled “Dynamics of Great Powers: Views from the South.” He will also be part of the Engagements program at the College and will teach a course for first-year students titled “Global ‘Development’: The Great, the Good & the Ugly.”