Professor Niheer Dasandi

Professor Niheer Dasandi

International Development Department
Professor of Global Politics and Sustainable Development

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 415 1058
Email
n.dasandi@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
Address
International Development Department
School of Government
Muirhead Tower
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Niheer Dasandi is Professor of Global Politics and Sustainable Development in IDD.

His research broadly looks at the global politics of sustainable development and human rights, focusing on the relationship between human rights and development; the health dimensions of climate change; the politics of development aid; and foreign policy issues. He is the Co-Chair for the Public and Political Engagement Working Group of the  on Health and Climate Change.

Niheer’s research has been published in leading academic journals including British Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Politics, The Lancet, The Lancet Planetary Health, World Development. He is the author of the book, Is Democracy Failing?, published in 2018 as part of Thames & Hudson’s The Big Idea series. 

He has received research funding from a range of donors, including British Academy, ESRC, European Commission/Horizon Europe, the Wellcome Trust, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A complete list of Niheer’s publications and working papers is available at (including links to open access versions of all published articles).

Qualifications

  • PhD in Political Science, University College London, 2013
  • MSc in International Public Policy, University College London, 2006
  • BSc (Hons) in Mathematics with Economics, University College London, 2005

Biography

Niheer Dasandi joined IDD in 2016 as a Birmingham Fellow. Prior to this he completed his doctorate at University College London (UCL) in 2013. He was a postdoctoral researcher with the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP) at UCL between 2013 and 2016, researching the politics of development and aid. He was promoted to Professor of Global Politics and Sustainable Develpment in 2024. Niheer previously worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 2006 and 2009.

Niheer’s research looks at the global politics of sustainable development, specifically focusing on:

  1. the relationship between human rights and development
  2. the health dimensions of climate change
  3. the politics of development aid
  4. measuring state preferences in global politics

His research draws on a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including survey data, network analysis, experiments, NLP/ text analysis, process tracing, and interviews. His research projects have involved fieldwork or data collection in a range of countries including China, India, Myanmar, Uganda, UK, and USA.

His research on human rights and development has included fieldwork in Myanmar and Uganda. Based on this research, he has given evidence to the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee. He has also conducted research (with Neil Mitchell) on public attitudes to human rights and war crimes as part of a British Academy-funded research project.

Niheer’s research on climate change and health has focused on understanding underlying political and policy processes linked to the health-climate change relationship. He is the Co-Chair of the Public and Political Engagement Working Group of the , and the co-lead of the Politics and Governance Working Group for the Lancet Countdown in Europe. He also leads a work package on policy engagement with health and climate change, as part of the Horizon Europe-funded project.

His research on state preferences in global politics has included producing (with Slava Jankin Mikhaylov and Alex Baturo), the , a dataset of countries’ speeches in the annual UN General Debate, and applying natural language processing techniques to these speeches to better understand state preferences in international politics.

Niheer’s research has been funded in leading academic journals, including British Journal of Political Science, Conflict Management and Peace Science, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, The Lancet, The Lancet Global Health, PLoS ONE, Political Studies, New Political Economy, and World Development, among others. He is the author of , published in 2018 as part of Thames & Hudson’s The Big Idea series.

His research has been funded by the British Academy, ESRC, European Commission/Horizon Europe, the Wellcome Trust, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was awarded a  (BARSEA) in 2018.

Teaching

  • International Development (graduate, distance learning)
  • Human Rights and Development (undergraduate, on campus)

Postgraduate supervision

Niheer currently works with the following doctoral candidates:

Research

Research interests 

  • Human rights and development
  • Climate change and health
  • The politics of international development
  • Foreign policy preferences in international politics

Current projects 

  • , funded by Wellcome Trust.
  • (with Cathryn Tonne et al.), funded by the European Commission/ Horizon Europe.
  • (with Prof Neil Mitchell, UCL), funded by the British Academy. 
  • (with Slava Jankin and Alex Baturo), funded by various.
  • The Donor’s Dilemma: The Political Ethics of Development Aid and Human Rights (with Lior Erez), funded by various.
  • Global Britain, Backlash, and the Politics of “Values” in Contemporary UK-Africa Policy (with Jonathan Fisher, Molly Sundberg, and Nathalie Raunet), funded by ESRC.

For further information about Niheer’s research, please visit: .

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Dasandi, N, Jankin, S, Kalatzi Pantera, D & Romanello, M 2025, '', The Lancet Planetary Health, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. e236-e244.

Jankin, S, Baturo, A & Dasandi, N 2024, '', Journal of Peace Research.

Dasandi, N & Mitchell, N 2023, '', The Journal of Politics, vol. 85, no. 4.

Dasandi, N & Erez, L 2023, '', World Development, vol. 168, 106264.

Chelotti, N, Dasandi, N & Jankin, S 2022, '', International Studies Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 1, sqab069. ,

Dasandi, N 2022, '', Journal of International Relations and Development, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 657-684.

Dasandi, N, Graham, H, Hudson, D, Jankin, S, Vanheerde-hudson, J & Watts, N 2022, '', Communications Earth and Environment, vol. 3, no. 1, 239.

Van daalen, KR, Romanello, M, Rockl枚v, J, Semenza, JC, Tonne, C, Markandya, A, Dasandi, N, Jankin, S, Achebak, H, Ballester, J, Bechara, H, Callaghan, MW, Chambers, J, Dasgupta, S, Drummond, P, Farooq, Z, Gasparyan, O, Gonzalez-Reviriego, N, Hamilton, I, H盲nninen, R, Kazmierczak, A, Kendrovski, V, Kennard, H, Kiesewetter, G, Lloyd, SJ, Lotto batista, M, Martinez-Urtaza, J, Mil脿, C, Minx, JC, Nieuwenhuijsen, M, Palamarchuk, J, Quijal-Zamorano, M, Robinson, EJZ, Scamman, D, Schmoll, O, Sewe, MO, Sj枚din, H, Sofiev, M, Solaraju-Murali, B, Springmann, M, Tri帽anes, J, Anto, JM, Nilsson, M & Lowe, R 2022, '', The Lancet Public Health, vol. 7, no. 11, pp. e942-e965.

Dasandi, N, Cai, W, Friberg, P, Jankin, S, Kuylenstierna, J & Nilsson, M 2022, '', BMJ Global Health, vol. 7, no. 6, e008731.

Chapter

Burnley, J, Dasandi, N & Hudson, D 2024, . in C Mcloughlin, S Ali, X Kailing, N Cheeseman & DE Hudson (eds), The Politics of Development. SAGE Publications, London. <>

Comment/debate

van Daalen, KR, Kriit, HK, Chen-Xu, J, Semenza, JC, Nilsson, M, Dasandi, N, Jankin, S, Markandya, A, Ant贸, JM, Rockl枚v, J & Tonne, C 2025, '', The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, vol. 51, 101257.

Conference contribution

Lancet Countdown in Europe consortium 2023, . in EGU General Assembly 2023., EGU23-13565, European Geosciences Union, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24/04/23.

Review article

van Daalen, KR, Tonne, C, Semenza, JC, Rockl枚v, J, Markandya, A, Dasandi, N, Jankin, S, Achebak, H, Ballester, J, Bechara, H, Beck, TM, Callaghan, MW, Carvalho, BM, Chambers, J, Pradas, MC, Courtenay, O, Dasgupta, S, Eckelman, MJ, Farooq, Z, Fransson, P, Gallo, E, Gasparyan, O, Gonzalez-Reviriego, N, Hamilton, I, H盲nninen, R, Hatfield, C, He, K, Kazmierczak, A, Kendrovski, V, Kennard, H, Kiesewetter, G, Kouznetsov, R, Kriit, HK, Llabr茅s-Brustenga, A, Lloyd, SJ, Batista, ML, Maia, C, Martinez-Urtaza, J, Mi, Z, Mil脿, C, Minx, JC, Nieuwenhuijsen, M, Palamarchuk, J, Pantera, DK, Quijal-Zamorano, M, Rafaj, P, Robinson, EJZ, S谩nchez-Valdivia, N, Scamman, D, Schmoll, O, Sewe, MO, Sherman, JD, Singh, P, Sirotkina, E, Sj枚din, H, Sofiev, M, Solaraju-Murali, B, Springmann, M, Treskova, M, Tri帽anes, J, Vanuytrecht, E, Wagner, F, Walawender, M, Warnecke, L, Zhang, R, Romanello, M, Ant贸, JM, Nilsson, M & Lowe, R 2024, '', The Lancet. Public health, vol. 9, no. 7, pp. e495-e522.

Romanello, M, Walawender, M, Hsu, SC, Moskeland, A, Palmeiro-Silva, Y, Scamman, D, Ali, Z, Ameli, N, Angelova, D, Ayeb-Karlsson, S, Basart, S, Beagley, J, Beggs, PJ, Blanco-Villafuerte, L, Cai, W, Callaghan, M, Campbell-Lendrum, D, Chambers, JD, Chicmana-Zapata, V, Chu, L, Cross, TJ, van Daalen, KR, Dalin, C, Dasandi, N, Dasgupta, S, Davies, M, Dubrow, R, Eckelman, MJ, Ford, JD, Freyberg, C, Gasparyan, O, Gordon-Strachan, G, Grubb, M, Gunther, SH, Hamilton, I, Hang, Y, H盲nninen, R, Hartinger, S, He, K, Heidecke, J, Hess, JJ, Jamart, L, Jankin, S, Jatkar, H, Jay, O, Kelman, I, Kennard, H, Kiesewetter, G, Kinney, P, Kniveton, D, Kouznetsov, R, Lampard, P, Lee, JKW, Lemke, B, Li, B, Liu, Y, Liu, Z, Llabr茅s-Brustenga, A, Lott, M, Lowe, R, Martinez-Urtaza, J, Maslin, M, McAllister, L, McMichael, C, Mi, Z, Milner, J, Minor, K, Minx, JC, Mohajeri, N, Momen, NC, Moradi-Lakeh, M, Morrisey, K, Munzert, S, Murray, KA, Obradovich, N, O'Hare, MB, Oliveira, C, Oreszczyn, T, Otto, M, Owfi, F, Pearman, OL, Pega, F, Perishing, AJ, Pinho-Gomes, AC, Ponmattam, J, Rabbaniha, M, Rickman, J, Robinson, E, Rockl枚v, J, Rojas-Rueda, D, Salas, RN, Semenza, JC, Sherman, JD, Shumake-Guillemot, J, Singh, P, Sj枚din, H, Slater, J, Sofiev, M, Sorensen, C, Springmann, M, Stalhandske, Z, Stowell, JD, Tabatabaei, M, Taylor, J, Tong, D, Tonne, C, Treskova, M, Trinanes, JA, Uppstu, A, Wagner, F, Warnecke, L, Whitcombe, H, Xian, P, Zavaleta-Cortijo, C, Zhang, C, Zhang, R, Zhang, S, Zhang, Y, Zhu, Q, Gong, P, Montgomery, H & Costello, A 2024, '', The Lancet, vol. 404, no. 10465, pp. 1847-1896.

Romanello, M, Di Napoli, C, Drummond, P, Green, C, Kennard, H, Lampard, P, Scamman, D, Arnell, N, Ayeb-Karlsson, S, Ford, LB, Belesova, K, Bowen, K, Cai, W, Callaghan, M, Campbell-Lendrum, D, Chambers, J, van Daalen, KR, Dalin, C, Dasandi, N, Dasgupta, S, Davies, M, Dominguez-Salas, P, Dubrow, R, Ebi, KL, Eckelman, M, Ekins, P, Escobar, LE, Georgeson, L, Graham, H, Gunther, SH, Hamilton, I, Hang, Y, H盲nninen, R, Hartinger, S, He, K, Hess, JJ, Hsu, S-C, Jankin, S, Jamart, L, Jay, O, Kelman, I, Kiesewetter, G, Kinney, P, Kjellstrom, T, Kniveton, D, Lee, JKW, Lemke, B, Liu, Y, Liu, Z, Lott, M, Batista, ML, Lowe, R, MacGuire, F, Sewe, MO, Martinez-Urtaza, J, Maslin, M, McAllister, L, McGushin, A, McMichael, C, Mi, Z, Milner, J, Minor, K, Minx, JC, Mohajeri, N, Moradi-Lakeh, M, Morrissey, K, Munzert, S, Murray, KA, Neville, T, Nilsson, M, Obradovich, N, O'Hare, MB, Oreszczyn, T, Otto, M, Owfi, F, Pearman, O, Rabbaniha, M, Robinson, EJZ, Rockl枚v, J, Salas, RN, Semenza, JC, Sherman, JD, Shi, L, Shumake-Guillemot, J, Silbert, G, Sofiev, M, Springmann, M, Stowell, J, Tabatabaei, M, Taylor, J, Tri帽anes, J, Wagner, F, Wilkinson, P, Winning, M, Yglesias-Gonz谩lez, M, Zhang, S, Gong, P, Montgomery, H & Costello, A 2022, '', The Lancet, vol. 400, no. 10363, pp. 1619-1654.