Nicolas van de Walle (PhD. Princeton University, 1990) has been a professor in Cornell University’s Department of Government since 2004. His primary field is comparative politics. His teaching and research focuses on the political economy of development, with a special focus on Africa; on democratization, and on the politics of economic reform. His most recent book is African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999 (Cambridge University Press, 2001).