Pierre Englebert is an American political scientist who specializes in the politics of Francophone Africa and Central Africa.^[1][2][3] He is the H. Russell Smith Professor of International Relations and Professor of Politics at Pomona College in Claremont, California.^[4] He previously worked at the World Bank in West Africa.^[1] Underlining much of Englebert's work are his arguments on how externally granted (de jury) sovereignty is used as a resource by African elites, who then redistribute state positions through patron-client relationships. This is an extension of the existing "neopatrimonialism" theory of African politics.^{[citation needed]}