Research

Research Interests: Democracies in conflict, domestic politics and war, military intervention, civil-military relations, nuclear negotiations and arms control, U.S. foreign policy, technology and battlefield effectiveness, public opinion and war, multi-method research design and political methodology.

I am motivated to understand the politicization of warfare and effect of democratic institutions on state conduct during conflict. I ask an important yet understudied question in international relations: Do domestic political institutions affect the way that states fight wars, and if so, why? My book evaluates the effect of domestic politics on the execution of military operations on the battlefield and finds that civilian leaders manipulate wartime military operations in order to satisfy short-term public preferences in the lead-up to an election. It fills important gaps in multiple areas of international security studies: civil-military relations, bargaining during war, studies of battlefield effectiveness, and theories of state behavior during conflict. I use qualitative and quantitative evidence from World War II, Vietnam, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to show that domestic politics profoundly influence civilian decision-making during conflict, and that this influence is most pronounced in the months immediately preceding an election. This work also inspires current research that challenges conventional understandings of the nature of counterinsurgency operations and the impact of organizational and bureaucratic pressures on military operations and effectiveness.  You can view and download my PhD dissertation here.

Published Articles (Peer-Review)

Papers Under Peer Review

  • “Counterinsurgency Myths and Methods: Evidence from the Iraq War” under review
  • “The Role of Race and Religion in support for Armed Humanitarian Intervention: Evidence from a Survey Experiment” (with Jonathan Chu) under review
  • “Democracy and Diversionary War: A Critical Analysis” preparing for review

Working Papers

  • “Is the Public Casualty Sensitive? Evidence from a Survey Experiment” (with Jonathan Chu), Last presented at ISA Annual Convention 2019, Toronto, Canada
  • “Counting Down: Democratic Politics, Casualties, and Military Operations during Conflict” Last presented at MPSA Annual Meeting 2019, Chicago, IL
  • “The Politics of Military Operations: Evidence from Vietnam” Last presented at Journeys in World Politics, May 2017
  • “Domestic Sources of Alliance Formation” Last presented at the Biannual Inter-University Seminar Chicago, Oct 2015
  • “Domestic Politics, Civilian Casualties, and the Strategic Bombing Campaigns of World War II” Last presented at ISA New Orleans, Feb 2015
  • “Liberation Technologies and the Arab Spring; Constraints, Controls, and Capabilities” Last presented at ISA San Francisco, Mar 2013.

 RAND Publications

  • 2017. “Reimagining the Character of Urban Operations for the United States Army” (With Gian Gentile, David Johnson, Lisa Saum-Manning, Raphael Cohen, Shara Williams, Michael Shurkin, Brenna Allen, and Sarah Soliman).
  • 2017. “Hypersonic Missile Nonproliferation: Hindering the Spread of a New Class of Weapons” (With Richard Speier, George Nacouzi, and Rich Moore)

Work in Progress

  • “The New Cult of the Offensive: Civil-Military Relations across the Great Powers”
  • “Hypersonic Weapons and the Future of Deterrence”
  • “Indirect Politicization: The Politics and Perceptions of Program Effectiveness in the Military” (with MAJ John Kendall)