About Me...

Teaching—
This is my first semester at UA. Prior to coming to Alabama I taught at the University of Kentucky for 7 years, at Stanford for a little over one year, and before that, at Vanderbilt University where I received my Ph.D. in political science. I teach courses on International Relations, International Conflict, American Foreign Policy, and sometimes on Research Methods. This is the first semester I’ve had the opportunity to teach a class on my research interests in democratization and international conflict.

Research—
My research is currently focused on explaining the role of international conflict in preventing democratization within the state and the ramifications these processes have on state behavior in the international system. I’ve recently published a paper on how international threat is likely to make citizens within a country less politically tolerant, and I’ve also investigated the role that large, regional alliances can have in reducing international threat (which helps democratization, I think). The majority of my published work has actually focused on international alliances, and I’m currently finishing a book manuscript that examines formal alliances from 1648 to 2000.

Personal—
The main thing many UA students will probably get frustrated with me about is the constant bragging I’ll do over Notre Dame football and Yankee baseball this fall. Just be glad you don’t have to listen to me during UK basketball season!