Projects and Publications
My scholarly work contributes to our collective understanding of war and peace and leadership dynamics in international and regional orders. Especially interesting to me are international rivalries, military intervention, the consequences of war, and the role of leaders in peacemaking. My interest in the U.S. as a leading power in the global system has motivated projects on US foreign and defense policy as well, some of which involved student researchers.
For a more complete list, please see my CV.
Power shifts, international order, revisionism & conflict
“Revisionism and International Relations,” coauthored with Victor M. Sanchez, recent graduate of our Master of Arts in International Affairs program at MTSU, introduces readers to the phenomenon of revisionist states, and surveys the relevant IR literature for insights. Three questions guide our survey. First, who is seeking to revise what? This question opens a foray into the status quo and its distinct components, particularly in the context of rising and resurgent powers. Second, what is revisionism, and how is it detected or recognized? This question prompts an exploration of the concept and how it is brought to life in scholarly analyses. The third guiding question invites theoretical perspective: How does revisionism help one understand international relations? Published in The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies, 2021. Note: in his master’s thesis, Victor investigates revisionist non-state actors.
Related: In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Empirical International Relations Theory: "Power Transition Theory and the Essence of Revisionism." Essay discusses power transition theory (PTT) and Graham Allison’s Thucydides Trap Project (TTP) in tandem, with two complementary aims in mind: to highlight theoretical and empirical contributions of the PTT research program, and to provide critical perspective on the TTP.
Rivalries and American national security
In The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security: "International Rivalries and National Security" with Brandon Valeriano (Marine Corps University).
Related: My recent essay for the H-Diplo/ISSF Policy Series, “Sino-American Rivalry in the Shadow of Trump: Images and Impressions,“ and my January 2020 post at Political Violence @ a Glance, “Shock and Thaw? The Limited Prospects for US-Iran De-Escalation,” which applies insights from the scholarly literature on rivalries to US-Iran relations after the lethal targeted strike on Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
Elite opinions and attitudes: generations, formative events, & international rivalries
Published in International Studies Quarterly: "The Things They Carried: Generational Effects of the Vietnam War on Elite Opinion," with Benjamin O. Fordham (Binghamton University-SUNY). For a distillation of one key point of that article, see our Monkey Cage blog post with the Washington Post.
Cold War rivalry dynamics & elite decision-making
Published in Foreign Policy Analysis: "Fear, Loathing, and Cracks in Reagan's Mirror Images: Able Archer 83 and an American First Step toward Rapprochement in the Cold War"
Invited participant, 15th Berlin Colloquium: "Was 1983 the Most Dangerous Year of the Cold War?"