Dr. Diego von Vacano is the author of The Color of Citizenship: Race, Modernity and Latin American/Hispanic Political Thought (Oxford University Press, 2012) and The Art of Power: Machiavelli, Nietzsche and the Making of Aesthetic Political Theory (Lexington Books, 2006). He is Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University. He has been a Visiting Professor and Presidential Fellow at Yale University.
He is currently working on a book entitled American Caudillo: Princely Performative Populism and Democracy in the Americas for Oxford University Press. The book develops a new framework to understand populism, from Trump to Evo Morales and Jair Bolsonaro, using Machiavellianism and Latin American Thought.
He received his doctorate in Politics from Princeton University in 2003, where he played for Princeton United FC. He received his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. He also studied in the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University.
He was born and raised in Bolivia, moving to the US as a political refugee in his youth. As an immigrant in New York City, he learned English in Elmhurst, Queens, where he played for the G-H Metros at the Met Oval. He is a frequent contributor to NBC NEWS Latino/Telemundo on Latino/a issues and international fútbol. He has also published analyses of the World Cup for venues such as the Washington Post. He has covered international soccer since 1990 as a reporter and photographer, including the Champions League Final 2018, EURO France 2016, and Copa America Centenario 2016.