“Test everything. Hold on to the good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21
Research
My primary research area is international conflict; however, I also have a strong interest in American Foreign Policy. Currently my research focuses on military coalitions and international rivalries.
My work on rivalries builds upon work in my dissertation and seeks to build a general model of rivalry that incorporates dyadic conflict, domestic politics, and rivalry. The model, which I have named the Conflict and Rivalry (CAR) Model, provides testable hypotheses on rivalry creation, conflict behavior during rivalries, and rivalry termination.
My second research focus explores the politics of military coalitions. My recent publication (Foreign Policy Analysis 2016) finds military coalitions are more likely to win wars. My current research seeks to answer the question of when coalitions will be effective, specifically focusing on the amount of control states surrender to the coalition. I have several more coalition related projects at various stages including coalitions and terms of settlement, coalitions and the duration of interstate conflict, coalitions and post-war occupations, and examining peacekeeping operations from a coalition perspective.
Journal Publications
Forthcoming. “Learning to Fight Together: UN Peacekeeping Coalitions and Civilian Protection.” International Studies
Quarterly - with Michael Morgan
2020. “Centralized Command and Coalition Victory.” Conflict Management and Peace Science.
2020. “Security Council Expansion: Probability and Consequences.” Fletcher Security Review.
2016. "Military Coalitions and the Outcome of Interstate Wars" Foreign Policy Analysis
2012. “Leader, Follower, or Spectator?: The Role of President Obama in the Arab Spring Uprising.” Social Science
Quarterly - with Clayton L. Thyne, Sarah L. Hayden (undergraduate), and Michael B. Senters (undergraduate).
2011. "When War Brings Peace: A Dynamic Model of the Rivalry Process" American Journal of Political Science
2010. "The Influence of International Organizations on Militarized Dispute Initiation and Duration" International Studies
Quarterly - with Megan Shannon and Frederick Boehmke.
2009. "Conflict and the Duration of Peace in Enduring Internal Rivalries" Conflict Management and Peace Science.
2008. "The Trade-offs of Fighting and Investing: A Model of the Evolution of War and Peace." Conflict Management and
Peace Science - with Kelly Kadera.
2007. "The French "Petit Oui": The Maastricht Treaty and the French Voting Agenda" Journal of Interdisciplinary History
- with Michael S. Lewis-Beck.
2006. "The Impact of Regime Type on the Influence of US Foreign Aid." Foreign Policy Analysis - with Brian Lai.
2006. "Selection Bias and Continuous-Time Duration Models: Consequences and Proposed Solution" American Journal of
Political Science - with Frederick Boehmke and Megan Shannon.
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