Eilish Zembilci is a Research Associate in Multilateralism and Global Governance at UNU-CPR.
Ms. Zembilci is also a Ph.D. student in the joint Public Policy and Political Science program at Duke University. Her research examines the political consequences of migration and displacement across local, national and international levels, with a particular focus on how refugee hosting shapes regime strategy, domestic backlash, and interstate bargaining in competitive authoritarian contexts. She is especially interested in how demographic change, national identity and policy attribution influence political behavior, opposition mobilization and public support for governing coalitions.
Her broader interests span global environmental politics, environmental security, climate adaptation, and the geopolitics of development and the energy transition, as well as the evolving role of U.S. foreign assistance. To that end, she has produced policy analysis for a range of development and policy institutions, including the CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program, World Food Program USA, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Department of State, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the UN International Organization for Migration, and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability.
Ms. Zembilci holds a Master of Public Policy and certificate in International Development Policy from Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where she was a Carlucci Fellow in Security Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from the George Washington University, with a concentration in global public health and a minor in sustainability studies.