Research Questions:
My research concerns international security, with a primary focus on the dynamics of international conflict management and resolution. In particular, I am interested in two broad questions. First, what bilateral processes or characteristics promote peaceful relations between disputing actors? Second, what is the role of third-parties in peacefully (or diplomatically) ending specific conflict episodes or transforming a conflictive relationship between countries into one that is more peaceful? In addressing these questions, my research touches upon topics like territorial conflict, international border disputes, interstate rivalries (or protracted conflict), the interstate-civil conflict nexus, democratization, human rights, international law, and various conflict management methods (e.g., negotiations, mediation, or peacekeeping).  


Curriculum Vitae

Google Scholar Page
​ORCID Page
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Publications:
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Books: ​
Journal Articles:  

Book Chapters:

Book Reviews:

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Media:

Replication Data:
To obtain replication data for published articles, please see my Dataverse page and/or the data repository for the journals in which my work appears.


Book Manuscripts (in progress; under contract):
  • Crises, War, and Diplomacy: Lessons for World Politics (with John A. Vasquez). 2025.

Working Papers (including those under review; date of last draft update listed):
  • "I Never Realized How Much You Care: Intangible Salience Discrepancies, Imperial Expansion, and the Onset, Management, and Termination of Territorial Claims" (with Douglas Atkinson, 
  • “Issue Linkage of Territorial and Identity Claims” (with Krista Wiegand, Paul Hensel, and Sara McLaughlin Mitchell). 2024.​

Conference Presentations:

Please see my curriculum vitae.


Grants (awarded only):
  • Visiting Faculty Research Fellow, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. 2020-2021.
  • University System of Georgia Affordable Learning Grant (with Jeffrey Berejikian; $25,000 to the University of Georgia). 2019-2020.
  • United States Institute of Peace (with Paul Diehl and Gary Goertz; $86,205 total; $35,922 to the University of Georgia). 2019-2020.
  • Minerva Research Initiative, Department of Defense (with Paul Hensel, Sara Mitchell, and Krista Wiegand; $751,957 total; $136,803 to the University of Georgia). 2016-2020.
  • School of Public and International Affairs, Internal Research Grant ($5,000). 2014-2015.
  • University of Georgia Faculty Research Grant ($10,000). 2013-2014.
  • School of Public and International Affairs, Internal Research Grant ($5,000).


Disciplinary Service:
  • Program Chair, Foreign Policy Section, Midwest Political Science Association. 2024.
  • Chair, RC45: Quantitative International Politics. International Political Science Association. 2023-2024.
  • Councillor, Conflict Processes, American Political Science Association. 2020-2022.
  • Program Chair, Conflict Processes, American Political Science Association. 2020.
  • Editorial Board, International Studies Quarterly. 2019-present.
  • Book Editor, International Studies Review. 2018-2022.
  • Treasurer, Peace Science Society. 2017-2019.
  • Grant Panelist, National Science Foundation. 2017-2019.
  • Reviewer (various journals and book publishers). 2011-present.


Dissertation Research:
“Paths to Peace: Conflict Management Trajectories in Militarized Interstate Disputes.” 2011. University of Illinois.

Dissertation Committee: Paul F. Diehl (Chair), John A. Vasquez, Derrick V. Frazier, Jude Hays.

Abstract: Without resorting to coercive actions (e.g., sanctions or military involvement), how does the international community respond to conflicts between states? Studies of third-party conflict management typically examine only one strategy at a time (e.g., studies of mediation) and assume that third-party conflict management efforts are independent of one another. This project attempts to overcome these limitations by directly theorizing about how conflict management efforts are informed by various third-parties’ previous efforts to manage the same conflict. I propose that third-party international actors are not only aware of previous attempts to manage the conflicts in which they become involved, but also that these third-parties account for the earlier attempts when deciding what to do next. More specifically, I argue that the international community wants peace, but at the lowest price possible. Third-parties therefore start with the lowest-cost conflict management strategies and use increasingly more costly strategies as their efforts fail. Quantitative analysis evaluates my theoretical argument against a number of competing logics using data on third-party conflict management attempts between 1946-2001. A small number of conflict cases then show my argument in action, and a series of simulations  illustrate the policy contributions of the project.



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