Welcome! I am a postdoctoral scholar at the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) at the University of California, San Diego, and a visiting scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). I received my Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University in September 2012. I will be joining the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley as an assistant professor of political science in July 2013.

 

My research focuses on conflict in international relations and comparative politics. I am primarily interested in studying terrorism and civil war to understand the strategies that militant groups, governments, and international actors employ to fight these conflicts, end them, and build a lasting peace in their aftermath. I specifically investigate two major questions: first, what governance strategies do militant groups and governments use during and after conflict to build their relative capabilities and then to effectively contest power? Second, in what ways do international actors intervene in this process?

 

My book project, based on my dissertation at Stanford, focuses on the role of electoral competition between militant groups — those employing terrorism, guerrilla and/or insurgency tactics with political aims — and governments, especially as a component of negotiated settlements. In contrast to broadly pessimistic views of elections as a conflict resolution tool, my research finds that, when these inclusive elections are part of an agreement, the duration of peace between the signatories is longer. Specifically, international actors are able to engage in monitoring and sanctioning non-compliance with a peace agreement through the transparency that elections provide. The project draws on evidence from field interviews with former militant group, government, and civic leaders and on newly collected cross-national data.

 

My other projects focus on the role of international actors and armed non-state actors in governing weak and post-conflict states. I have designed and run (with co-authors) several survey experiments in Colombia and Mexico that explore the levels of social support for armed non-state actors, as well as their strategies for gaining more support. My research and teaching interests include conflict, especially terrorism and civil war; international intervention and assistance in post-conflict states; post-conflict peace-building and development; democratization; and, governance by and social support for militant groups and international actors. I am also interested in survey experiments and multi-method research design.

 

Before coming to Stanford, I was employed by the RAND Corporation as a research assistant and a summer associate primarily on counterterrorism projects. I received an undergraduate degree magna cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard University, while working with the Belfer Center's Managing the Atom Project and with the Los Alamos National Laboratory. I was born and raised in New Mexico, so I never turn down spicy food! I also never pass up a good soccer game.