Fiona Bare

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Politics and a 2025-2026 Prize Fellow in the Social Sciences at Princeton University. I study international political economy and global environmental governance.

My dissertation tackles a central question: why does climate finance stall in negotiation and disbursement, even as climate impacts worsen and pledges accumulate? I show how uncertainty, institutional constraints, and political incentives obstruct the translation of commitments into action, illuminating the persistent gap between promises and delivery in climate finance. In other research, I study how firms and other non-state actors shape climate politics, and explore broader questions about the role, behavior, and authority of international organizations in global governance. I employ a mixed-methods approach in my research, incorporating formal modeling and observational data alongside qualitative methods such as interviews, case studies, and fieldwork.

I hold a B.A. with honors in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (summa cum laude) from Claremont McKenna College and an M.A. in Politics from Princeton University.