Dr. Olukayode Bakare is a scholar of African politics and international relations, currently serving as a Visiting Research Scholar in the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado Denver. He is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for Research and Policy Integration in Africa and the African Studies Centre Leiden.

He earned his Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Aberdeen in 2019, with specialization in African politics, geopolitics, and security studies. His academic trajectory includes visiting and teaching appointments at the State University of New York at Oswego, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Durham University, Newcastle University, and prior lecturing roles in Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice from the University of Liverpool.

Dr. Bakare’s research interrogates regime stability, military coups, democratic backsliding, security architecture, and foreign policy dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa. His publications examine the African Union’s security framework, Nigeria’s foreign policy, ECOWAS regional security mechanisms, and geopolitical contestations in the Sahel. His work has appeared in journals such as African Conflict & Peacebuilding Review, Cogent Social Sciences, and London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, alongside invited commentaries for platforms affiliated with LSE and other international policy forums.

An award-winning educator, he has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in African politics, international relations, foreign policy analysis, and governance. His scholarly profile reflects a sustained engagement with questions of democracy, security governance, and Africa’s positioning within shifting global power structures.