Biography

Yoram Z. Haftel is a Simone Veil Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre. He is also a Professor and the Giancarlo Elia Valori Chair in the Study of Peace and Regional Cooperation in the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University and had taught at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

His research agenda touches on the sources, design, and effects of international institutions, broadly construed. One of his main areas of interest is the role of international organisations (IOs) in world politics. In his early work, he examined the condition under which they reduce armed conflict and the reasons for their expansion from the economic to the security realm, emphasising their level of institutionalisation.

Currently, he is exploring the sources and consequences of regime complexity, particularly in Africa and Eurasia, underscoring the level of IO authority. In another ongoing project, he investigates the implications of economic, health and natural crises for the survival of IOs as well as for states’ engagement strategies within IOs during hard times.

His second research area revolves around the international investment agreements (IIAs) regime. In this context, he examined the evolution of the regime and the determinants of states’ decisions to ratify, renegotiate, or terminate IIAs. His analysis underscores states’ efforts to balance investor protection and state regulatory space, especially in light of their experience in investor-state dispute settlement. In an ongoing project, he explores the roles of IOs, such as UNCTAD, in the IIA regime.