Hi, I’m Brandon Sullivan

I am a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at Boston University, where I study the political economy of security, finance, and state–business relations.

My work sits at the intersection of international political economy and security studies, with a focus on how financial market actors interpret geopolitical risk and how states provide stability during periods of global disruption.

My current research project examines how professionals in banking and finance understand and respond to shocks in global trade. Drawing on insights from political economy and political psychology, I study how market participants assess and manage exposure to geopolitical uncertainty, and how expectations about state action shape their risk strategies.

I am currently affiliated with Boston University’s Center for Innovation in Social Science (CISS) and Northeastern’s Transnational Political Networks project, and was a Graduate Student Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society during the 2023-2024 Academic Year.

My work has been supported by BU’s Department of Political Science and the CISS, Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center, and jointly by Northeastern’s CIWAC and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.