Md Obaidullah
Graduate Student
Biography
Md Obaidullah is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. His research lies at the intersection of international relations, international political economy, and political methodology, with a primary focus on the political economy of migration, forced displacement, and conflict.
His research examines how economic globalization, labor markets, financial ties, political institutions, and conflict jointly shape migration decisions, immigration policies, and refugee governance. He is particularly interested in the relationships among migration, trade, capital mobility, and development, as well as the political and economic consequences of migration for countries of origin and destination. His work also investigates how transnational networks, household resources, and migration intermediaries enable or constrain mobility, especially under conditions of conflict and economic insecurity.
A related strand of his research explores the foreign policies of small and developing states, focusing on how they navigate economic dependence, asymmetric interdependence, and strategic competition among major powers. His regional focus is on South Asia and the Middle East, which he connects to broader questions of globalization, conflict, migration, and international order.
His scholarly work has appeared in peer reviewed journals such as Contemporary South Asia, China Report, and SN Social Sciences. He also contributes regularly to international affairs outlets, including The Diplomat, Asia Times, and East Asia Forum. His research employs quantitative and qualitative methods, including causal inference, panel-data analysis, survey experiments, spatial analysis, and in-depth interviews.
Before joining UVA, Obaidullah earned an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern Mississippi. He previously served as a lecturer in the Department of Development Studies at Daffodil International University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Public Administration from the University of Barishal, Bangladesh.
