Research

My research interests traverse the fields of international relations and comparative politics. It focuses on how military power shapes international outcomes, as well as how institutions constrain leaders’ behavior. My dissertation examines how people perceive military power, and how that perception raises the stakes for decisions states make about military force structure and procurement. It consists of three related manuscripts. The first outlines how force structure contributes to conflict onset. The second article shows how conflict duration is also influenced by these same force structures. The third employs a survey experiment to explore how the force structure of a state affects how people perceive military power. I have also run several survey experiments, including a module in the CCES, testing how collateral violence against civilians is constrained by public opinion.