Description:

The colloquium in international security studies continues with a presentation by Kevin Keller, titled “The Madaraka Express: Chinese-Style Development in a Postcolonial Legal Regime.” A case study of the Madaraka Express, a recent infrastructure megaproject in Kenya financed by Chinese loans, this essay seeks to understand to what extent and through what mechanisms a country’s legal system can be affected by people, institutions, and ideas outside of its own borders. The paper introduces and describes the concept of a “policy irritant”: a policy that a country implements, inspired by policies elsewhere, that places pressure on and potentially (but not necessarily) reshapes the country’s legal regime.

Keller is a PhD candidate in global history at Yale University and an Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. His interests include law, economic growth, and international relations. He was a recipient of the ISS-Grand Strategy Dissertation Research award.

This event is open to the Yale community; lunch will be provided. This event is open to the Yale community, and lunch will be provided. Registered participants will receive the reading materials in advance.