Pauline Jones-Luong is professor of political science and director of the Islamic studies program at University of Michigan. She is currently working on three large research projects: 1) the internationalization strategies of emerging country national oil companies (NOCs); 2) the social and political impact of the "Islamic revival" in Central Asia; and 3) the institutionalization of secularism as a form of political extremism in predominantly Muslim countries. Contrary to existing explanations that emphasize structural and economic changes at the international level, she argues that an NOC's capacity to internationalize is constrained by domestic politics; more specifically, the legacy of its mode of emergence, the timing of convergence between the government and NOC management regarding the merits of internationalization, and the sequencing of sectoral reforms vis-à-vis convergence.