Salvador Santino F⁠. Regilme Jr⁠. (born in 1986) is a tenured Associate Professor (Universitair Hoofddocent) of International Relations at the History and International Studies Section, Institute for History, Leiden University in the Netherlands⁠. Born in the Philippines and educated in Germany and the United States, he is a Dutch scholar focusing on international human rights norms, North-South relations, global security issues, dehumanization in the global drug wars, and contemporary United States foreign policy⁠. He is an award-winning scholar of International Relations, with research accolades from the International Studies Association and the American Sociological Association⁠.

More information about Salvador Santino Regilme

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Salvador Santino Fulo Regilme Jr⁠. (born 1986) is a tenured Associate Professor of International Relations (Universitair hoofddocent) based at the Institute of History at Leiden University, the Netherlands⁠. Born in the Philippines and educated in Germany and the United States, he is a Dutch scholar focusing on international human rights norms, North-South relations, global security issues, and contemporary United States foreign policy⁠. At Leiden University, he serves as the Chair of the Board of Examiners of the MA in International Relations Program⁠.

He is the author of Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia (University of Michigan Press, 2021), sole editor of The United States and China in the Era of Global Transformations: Geographies of Rivalry (Bristol University Press, 2023) and principal co-editor of Human Rights at Risk: Global Governance, American Power, and the Future of Dignity (Rutgers University Press, 2022) and American Hegemony and the Rise of Emerging Powers (Routledge, 2018)⁠. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in established journals in the social sciences and humanities,  peer-reviewed book chapters, and many book review articles and op-ed pieces⁠.

Previously, he worked as a Käte Hamburger Fellow on global cooperation based in Germany (funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research), as a Fox International Fellow at the MacMillan Center for Area and International Studies at Yale University, and he briefly held a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of International Relations within the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University, USA⁠. He was also a visiting researcher at the Comparative Constitutionalism Group of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany⁠. He is the recipient of 2022 Individual Fellowship from the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam⁠.

He is the 2019 Inaugural Winner of the Best Conference Paper Award for the Asia-Pacific of the International Studies Association, for his paper on the international human rights regime and the Trump administration⁠. In 2022, Regilme received Honorable Mention for the Best Scholarly Article Award in Human Rights from American Sociological Association for his paper on the global war on drugs in Colombia and the Philippines⁠.

Fields of interest

Human Rights; Global Governance; Dehumanization; United States Foreign Policy; War on Drugs; Foreign Aid; Foreign Policy Analysis; International Relations Theory; Democratization

Research agenda

My long-term research agenda aims to investigate how trans⁠/international factors and domestic factors interact as they produce transformative political outcomes at the national or local level, especially in the context of the Global South⁠. Deploying insights, tools, and theories from the humanities and the social sciences, my research agenda addresses various themes such as international human rights norms, global war on drugs, dehumanization, contemporary United States foreign policy, global security governance, foreign aid, democratization, and theories of International Relations⁠. I work on several book projects, but more recently, I focus on three monographs: 1) the normative order of global drug wars (sole author); 2) a comparative analysis of the ideational and material features of US and Chinese foreign aid programs in the 21st century (together with Obert Hodzi of Liverpool University, UK; 3) human dignity in International Relations (sole author)⁠.

Grants and awards

• 2022 Best Scholarly Article Award Honorable Mention, American Sociological Association - Human Rights Section (awarded on August 2022 Annual Conference in Los Angeles, CA, USA), for the paper “Visions of Peace Amidst a Human Rights Crisis: War on Drugs in Colombia and the Philippines”
• Awardee, Competitive Fellowship, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies, Amsterdam (NIAS), September 2022-January 2023
• Finalist (Aid Imperium, University of Michigan Press, 2021) in the “Political and Social Sciences” Category of the 2021 Foreword INDIES Book Award
• Inaugural Winner, 2019 Best Conference Paper Award, International Studies Association (ISA), Asia-Pacific Conference in Singapore⁠. Award given at the ISA General Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 2020⁠.
• Fox International Fellowship, Yale University – MacMillan Center for Area and International Studies
• One of the 100 World Finalists, Falling Walls Lab Conference Berlin, 2014⁠.
Named as One of the “100 Leaders of Tomorrow” Chosen Worldwide Among Young Leaders and Professionals, the 42nd St⁠. Gallen Symposium, Universität St⁠. Gallen in Switzerland, 201

Key publications

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠. (2021) Aid Imperium: United States Foreign Aid and Human Rights in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia⁠. Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies Book Series⁠. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press https:⁠/⁠/www⁠.press⁠.umich⁠.edu⁠/12036762⁠/aid_imperium

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠. (ed⁠.) (2023)⁠. The United States and China in the Era of Global Transformations: Geographies of Rivalry⁠. Bristol: Bristol University Press⁠. https:⁠/⁠/bristoluniversitypress⁠.co⁠.uk⁠/the-united-states-and-china-in-the-era-of-global-transformations

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠. & Irene Hadiprayitno (eds⁠.) (2022)⁠. Human Rights at Risk: Global Governance, American Power, and the Future of Dignity⁠. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press⁠. https:⁠/⁠/www⁠.rutgersuniversitypress⁠.org⁠/human-rights-at-risk⁠/9781978828421⁠/

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠. & Hodzi, Obert⁠. (2021)⁠. Comparing American and Chinese Foreign Aid in the Era of Rising Powers⁠. The International Spectator⁠. (56)2: 114-131⁠. https:⁠/⁠/doi⁠.org⁠/10⁠.1080⁠/03932729⁠.2020⁠.1855904

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠. (2020)⁠. Visions of Peace Amidst a Human Rights Crisis: War on Drugs in Colombia and the Philippines⁠. Journal of Global Security Studies⁠. https:⁠/⁠/doi⁠.org⁠/10⁠.1093⁠/jogss⁠/ogaa022

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠. (2019)⁠. The Decline of American Power and Donald Trump: Reflections on Human Rights, Neoliberalism, and the World Order⁠. Geoforum⁠. https:⁠/⁠/doi⁠.org⁠/10⁠.1016⁠/j⁠.geoforum⁠.2019⁠.04⁠.010

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠. (2018) Does US Foreign Aid Undermine Human Rights? The 'Thaksinification' of the War on Terror Discourses and the Human Rights Crisis in Thailand, 2001 to 2006⁠. Human Rights Review⁠. 19 (1): 73-95 https:⁠/⁠/doi⁠.org⁠/10⁠.1007⁠/s12142-017-0482-2

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠.  (2018)⁠. The Global Politics of Human Rights: From Human Rights to Human Dignity?⁠. International Political Science Review⁠.  40 (2): 279-290, https:⁠/⁠/doi⁠.org⁠/10⁠.1177⁠/0192512118757129

- Regilme, Salvador Santino F⁠. Jr⁠.  (2018)⁠. A human rights tragedy: Strategic Localization of US Foreign Policy in Colombia⁠. International Relations⁠. 32 (3): 343-365⁠. https:⁠/⁠/doi⁠.org⁠/10⁠.1177⁠/0047117818777830

Publications

Activities