In the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, arms control gained traction as the preferred option for dealing with Soviet nuclear advances. The development of the first imaging satellites is often credited with enabling nuclear arms control under the conventional wisd…
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This project aims to explain why, in the face of otherwise similar types of threats and disputes, some borders become well-organized institutions that provide security to contiguous states and populations living in border areas while other boundaries remain sites of escalation, …
Most theoretical approaches to the study of international alliances involve an assumption of effective capability aggregation: once two or more states make a diplomatic decision to form an alliance, their combined military power will be at least as strong as, if not stronger tha…
This study focuses on transnational smuggling, and puts forth an analytical framework from the smugglers' perspective with respect to route selection, focusing primarily on aspects of economic, political, and human geography. It is predicated on three interconnected decision-mak…
Military force is one tool available to political leaders in the conduct of foreign policy. Traditional military theorists acknowledge that military objectives must serve political aims and that the political should maintain primacy over the military. A challenge in the use of m…
In a complex foreign policy system, involving myriad bureaucracies, advisors, and political entrepreneurs, who advises? What advice is heeded, and which advisor is followed? While most scholars tacitly acknowledge the importance of advisors in international relations, few attemp…
Iran's nuclear development program has been a source of inter-governmental tensions. While there is much political debate on whether this program poses an international security threat, academic research about public perceptions and attitudes toward the program is lacking. This …
This thesis studies under what conditions the U.S. can coerce its allies to forgo nuclear weapons. Specifically, why did Taiwan and South Korea give up their nuclear pursuits under American duress, while Israel and Pakistan attained a nuclear capability? The existing theoretical…
Recent changes in German foreign policy behavior have led to questions about Germany's European vocation. At the center of this inquiry is Germany's struggle to resolve the intersection between historical memory and present day international responsibility, especially in cases i…
In order to survive in power, the rulers of political regimes must rely on armed forces for defense. In developing forces that are strong enough to protect the state, however, rulers give rise to a new type of challenger for political power that may itself threaten the governmen…
Weak states present a number of challenges to international order; contributing to problems of terrorism, large-scale migration, refugee crises, international crime, and political violence. While they have always existed, historically they were frequently eliminated by the inter…
This study examines realists' proposition of military warfare as the primary tool used to achieve favorable foreign policy outcomes. Prior to contemporary terrorists' attacks, one could argue that threats to the international system could be clearly defined in terms of inter-sta…