My research and teaching focuses on the study of conflict between and within states. My specific areas of expertise are the study of international alliances, terrorism, foreign aid, and domestic politics and international conflict.
Internal Conflict
Examining the Escalation of Terrorist Violence to Civil War (with Kelsey Larsen), MidWest Political Science Association (2008)
"Draining the Swamp": An Empirical Examination of the Production of International Terrorism, 1968-1998, Conflict Management and Peace Science (2007)
One central element of the current war on terrorism is "draining the swamps", addressing conditions...
The Effect of Civil War on Education, 1980—97 (with Clayton Thyne), Journal of Peace Research (2007)
This study examines the negative effects of civil wars and the post-civil war environment on...
Examining the Number of Incidents of Terrorism Within States, 1968-1977, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (2003)
Cooperation
Reducing the Effects of Moral Hazard: Institutional Designs Within International Alliances (2008)
What explains the level of commitment within an international military alliance? Specifically, when do alliances...
Reducing the Effects of Moral Hazard: Institutional Designs Within International Alliances, American Political Science Association (2007)
Reputation and Reliability: Upholding Commitments for the Future (with Matthew Cherry), International Studies Association (2007)
Rally Around the UN: Public Opinion and Peacekeeping in Canada (with Kevin Hansen), Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association (2006)
Impact of Regime Type on the Influence of U.S. Foreign Aid (with Daniel S. Morey), Foreign Policy Analysis (2006)
Past studies of U.S. foreign aid and UN voting have not taken into account the...
Effects of Conflict
Rally ‘Round the Union Jack? Public Opinion and the Use of Force in the United Kingdom, 1948-2001 (with Dan Reiter), International Studies Quarterly (2005)
This paper provides the most comprehensive and extensive analysis to date of the possibility of...
Rally Around the Tri-Color: Examining the Effect of War and Uses of Force on the Popularity of French Presidents, Annual Meeting of the Peace Science Society (2004)
Rally ‘Round the Union Jack? Public Opinion and the Use of Force in the United Kingdom, 1948-1994 (with Dan Reiter), Annual Meeting of the Peace Science Society (2002)
Domestic Politics and Conflict
An Empirical Examination of Religion and Conflict in the Middle East, 1950-1992, Foreign Policy Analysis (2006)
This article examines the influence of religion on conflict in the Middle East. It develops...
Institutions of the Offensive: Domestic Sources of Dispute Initiation in Authoritarian Regimes, 1950-1992 (with Dan Slater), American Journal of Political Science (2006)
What are the most important sources of institutional variation among authoritarian regimes, and how do...
The Impact of Regime Type on the Relationship between Conscription and Conflict (with Erik Tillman), Annual Meeting of the Peace Science Society (2005)
Securing Tenure: Authoritarian Institutions, International Conflict, and Leadership/Regime Survival, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (2005)
The Effects of Different Types of Military Mobilization on the Outcome of International Crises, Journal of Conflict Resolution (2004)
One dominant explanation for why crises escalate to war is based on misperception. Alternative rational...
International Crises
Empirically Modeling Strategic Behavior with a Unified Model of Crisis Outcome and Duration, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (2004)
Empirically Modeling International Crises with a Heteroskedastic Probit Model, Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association (2002)
Military Mobilization and International Crises, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (2001)
Democratization
Democratic Progress and Regress: The Effect of Parties on the Transitions of States to and Away from Democracy (with Ruth Melkonian-Hoover), Political Research Quarterly (2005)
This article examines how political parties and party competition affect the likelihood of nations becoming...