Research

My research focuses on broad issues of international security, international relations (IR) theory, and U.S. foreign policy. Details on specific research themes and projects - as well as copies of publications - can be found with the drop-down menu at top. Overall, though, my work is informed by three overarching questions:

First, when and why do great powers compete or cooperate in security affairs, and what consequences - for themselves, for other actors, and for international stability - follow?

Second, what explains the foreign policy and strategic choices of the United States since the Second World War, and what can U.S policy tell scholars about IR theory?

Finally, what insights do theory and diplomatic history offer for contemporary policy discussions on core matters of war, peace, and the search for security?

Along the way, I look to craft and evaluate theory using qualitative (especially archival) research; to rigorously engage policy debates by leveraging theory and history; and, although not a historian, to connect IR theory with historiography.