Dr. Brian Klaas is a Fellow in Global Politics at the London School of Economics and a columnist for The Washington Post. Klaas is also a frequent television commentator and political consultant.

Dr. Klaas is an expert on democracy, authoritarianism, US foreign policy, American politics more generally, political violence, and elections. He is the author of three books: "The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy" (November 2017); "The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy," (December 2016) and "How to Rig an Election" (co-authored with Professor Nic Cheeseman; May 2018).

Klaas has advised governments, US political campaigns, NATO, the European Union, multi-billion dollar investors, international NGOs, and international politicians.

Dr. Klaas has extensive experience working in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and United States politics. Prior clients include the premier conflict management NGO in the world, International Crisis Group, the respected international election monitoring organization, The Carter Center, and large private firms. He has conducted field research, interviewing prime ministers, presidents, ministers, rebels, coup plotters, dissidents, and torture victims in an array of countries, including Madagascar, Thailand, Tunisia, Belarus, Côte d'Ivoire, Zambia, and Latvia.

His writing has also recently been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Foreign Affairs, the Financial Times, Newsweek, The Telegraph, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Foreign Policy, and many other publications. Klaas is a regular commentator on a wide array of international media outlets too, including MSNBC, CNN, BBC News, Sky News, NPR News, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, BBC World Service, Monocle 24, France 24, and many others.

Prior to becoming an academic, Dr. Klaas advised US political campaigns.

He received his DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford (New College), an MPhil in Comparative Government from the University of Oxford (St. Antony's), and a Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa) from Carleton College.