MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale
MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale
Fox International Fellowship

Tainá Siman

Fox International Fellow
Fox International Fellowship, MacMillan Center
Academic Year: 2026-27
Direction: To Yale
Exchange Partner: Freie University of Berlin, Germany
Project Title: Safeguarding Democracy Clauses in RIOs: Explaining inter-regional variation regarding activation

Tainá Siman is an Associate Researcher and PhD Candidate at the Free University of Berlin and a 2026/2027Fox International Fellow at Yale University. Her thesis examines the adoption and non-enforcement of democratic norms in regional organizations through interregional comparisons. Previously, she was a research intern at the United Nations University (UNU-CRIS) and holds a Master's degree in International Relations from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. Her main research interests include Mercosur, comparative regionalism, integration organizations, and institutional design.
At Yale, she will advance her doctoral research by establishing a hierarchy of explanatory mechanisms behind regional organizations' failure or unwillingness to implement formal commitments, based on their relative causal weight. Integrating these insights with her broader research trajectory, Tainá is dedicated to conducting research that bridges comparative regionalism and institutional design to promote stronger governance in regional organizations.