Last updated: April 2026.
Academic Positions
University of Oxford, Blavatnik School of Government — Sep 2025 – present
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow
Three-year independent research project on geoeconomic power, cooperation, and climate change.
University of Oxford, Worcester College — Sep 2025 – present
Junior Research Fellow in the Social Sciences
Princeton University, Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance — Aug 2024 – Jul 2025
Postdoctoral Fellow
Independent research on sanctions, economic interdependence, and climate change.
University of Oxford, Blavatnik School of Government — Jan 2024 – Jul 2024
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Net Zero Governance Systems (PIs: Thomas Hale, Thom Wetzer)
Research on the international political economy of climate change.
Education
University of Oxford, University College — Oct 2020 – Mar 2024
PhD/DPhil in International Relations
Thesis: “Three Articles on International Economic Coercion: Aid Suspensions, Retaliation, and Weaponised Interdependence.” Supervisors: Alexander Kuo, Karolina Milewicz.
University of Oxford — Oct 2016 – Jun 2018
Master of Philosophy in Politics: European Politics and Society
University of St. Gallen, Switzerland — Sep 2011 – Aug 2015
Bachelor of Arts in Business
Harvard College, United States — Aug 2014 – Jan 2015
Visiting Undergraduate Student
Peer-Reviewed Publications
“Carrots as Sticks: How Effective Are Foreign Aid Suspensions and Economic Sanctions?” 2024. International Studies Quarterly 68(2).
“The Power of the ‘Weak’ and International Organizations.” 2024. The Review of International Organizations. With Duncan Snidal, Thomas Hale, Emily Jones, and Karolina Milewicz. Framework article for a special issue, which I co-organised and co-edited.
Book Manuscript
Varieties of Chokepoints: A Micro-Perspective on Geoeconomic Power. In progress.
Existing accounts of geoeconomic power cannot explain why closely related economic exchanges generate vastly different capacities for coercion. This book shifts the analysis to the product level, arguing that chokepoints arise from the specific characteristics of bilateral exchanges that generate asymmetric substitution costs. It identifies varieties of chokepoints and traces their lifecycle from emergence through activation to erosion.
Research Pipeline
“Sanctions, Countersanctions, and Power: When and How International Organizations De-Escalate Geoeconomic Conflict.” Revise & Resubmit, International Interactions.
“A ‘conveyor belt’ from international standards to stronger domestic regulation? Evidence from the international political economy of net zero governance.” With Thomas Hale, Emma Lecavalier, Bhavya Gupta, and Thom Wetzer. Revise & Resubmit, Regulation & Governance.
“The price of dependence: what partnerships can Europe build?” Close to submission. With Ngaire Woods.
“The Target Strikes Back: When and How China and Russia Adopt Economic (Counter)Sanctions.” Close to submission. With Linda Liu.
“Geoeconomic Power and Vulnerability: A Typology of Chokepoints and When They Arise.” Close to submission.
“Comparative analysis of national export control regimes.” With Christina Davis, Katniss Li, and Yeling Tan. Early stage.
Datasets
Oxford Climate Policy Monitor. With Emma Lecavalier, Lucilla Dias, Thomas Hale, and Thom Wetzer.
Dataset on 200+ Cases of Chinese and Russian Economic Sanctions. With Linda Liu. Dataset complete; paper in progress.
Grants and Awards
- Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship (three years, 2025–2028): independent research project on geoeconomic power.
- Carnegie Corporation of New York ($750,000, 2026–2029): co-developed grant for the Research on Economic Security and Peace (RESP) project, a collaboration between Oxford and Harvard.
- Oxford-Radcliffe Graduate Scholarship (2020–2024): full funding for DPhil.
Teaching and Supervision
Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford — Trinity 2026
Co-Convenor, Policy Challenge II (Master of Public Policy)
Capstone simulation on weaponised interdependence and multilateral economic security for ~60 students.
School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford — Apr 2024 – Sep 2024
Supervisor of MSc thesis in Environmental Change and Management
Guided the student from research design to final submission.
Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford — Oct 2021 – Jul 2024
Tutor for Quantitative Research Methods (Q-Step 1 and Q-Step 2)
Introductory and advanced statistics for PPE and History & Politics undergraduates (~60 students per year). Independently delivered lectures, R coding labs, and assessment.
Stanford Undergraduate Exchange Programme, University of Oxford — Apr 2024 – Jul 2024
Tutor for International Relations and Quantitative Methods
Designed course syllabus from scratch; held weekly tutorials.
Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford — Sep 2021 – Jan 2022
Teaching Assistant, Internet Technologies and Regulation
Core course for MSc Social Science of the Internet; independently ran workshops (~20 students).
Selected Conferences and Invited Presentations
- TU Munich (2026)
- Blavatnik School of Government Research Seminar (2026)
- PEIO (2022, 2026)
- EPSA (2023, 2025)
- University of Pennsylvania (2025)
- IPES (2022, 2024)
- Princeton IR Colloquium (2024)
- International Association on Regulation & Governance (2024)
- Oxford IR Colloquium (2024)
- ECPR Joint Session (2021)
Professional Experience
Kearney, Berlin — Jan 2019 – Oct 2020
Management Consultant
KPMG, Frankfurt — Jun 2016 – Aug 2016
Deal Advisory & Strategy
GIZ, Riyadh — Feb 2016 – May 2016
International Cooperation
Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt — Sep 2013 – Nov 2013
Investment Banking (ETFs)
Additional
Competitive Rowing (2006–2018): World Champion (2015), Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race (2018), German national team (2012–2015), ten-time German national champion.
Claas Mertens 