PUBLICATIONS
- "Revisiting Opportunism in Civil Conflict: Natural Resource Extraction and Healthcare Provision," with Justin Conrad and Megan Stewart @ Journal of Conflict Resolution.
What is the relationship between natural resources and rebel governance? Previous studies have argued that resource rich groups have fewer incentives to provide social services. We argue, however, that even well-funded rebels may have incentives to provide some social services to civilians. Specifically, rebel groups profiting from the extraction of natural resources should be more likely to offer health care services as a means of ensuring a dependable civilian workforce than groups who do not profit from natural resources. Using data on both the extraction of natural resources and social service provision by rebel groups, we find strong empirical evidence to support our argument. We conclude with implications for scholars and policymakers.
- "Making Peace or Preventing It? UN Peacekeeping, Terrorism, and Civil War Negotiations, " with Sara M.T. Polo and Kaisa Hinkainen @ International Studies Quarterly
Previous studies have highlighted that United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations are effective at reducing violence during civil wars. But can these operations also change the incentives of the warring parties and lead them to pursue non-violent alternatives? This article provides the first direct test of UN peacekeeping troops’ effectiveness at inducing non-violent engagements, specifically negotiations during civil wars. Our analysis of disaggregated monthly data on peace operations, negotiations, and violence in African conflicts (1989–2009) reveals that sizable deployments of UN military troops, by themselves, are insufficient to foster negotiations, even when they reduce battlefield violence. Instead, the probability of negotiation instances is conditional on rebel tactics. We posit, when rebels engage in terrorism, peacekeeping troops can inadvertently alter the “power to hurt” of the belligerents in favor of rebel groups and create conditions conducive to negotiations. Our results have important implications for research on the effectiveness of both peacekeeping and terrorism and for policy-making.
WORKING PAPERS
- "Rebel and Incumbent Law: How Compatible Legal Preferences Prolong Peace after Power-Sharing."
Honorable Mention for the Conflict Research Society's Cedric Smith Prize. Best article or thesis chapter in peace and conflict research by a PhD student.
- "Delegitimizing Rebels with Civilian Trials During Armed Conflict," with Justin Conrad.
- "Two Sides of the Same Coin? Explaining Rebel Governance and Terrorism," with Sara M.T. Polo, Megan A. Stewart, and Jessica Maves Braithwaite.
- "Revolution, Law, and the Legacies of Rebel Governance," with Karen Albert and Sherry Zaks.
- "Incremental or Transformative? The Effect of Civil War on Constitutional Change," with Maria Aroca, Keith E. Hamm, Nancy Martorano Miller, and Ronald D. Hedlund
Winner of Southern Political Science Association's Neal Tate Award. Best paper presented in judicial politics at the SPSA's Annual Conference in 2021.
- "Getting the Law on Your Side: Legal Enforcement Mechanisms and Economic Sanctions," with T. Clifton Morgan.
*Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in receiving any of the papers posted above.*