Investigating the role of leaders, groups & bureaucracies in shaping security policy

I am an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at Washington University in St. Louis. I completed my PhD in Political Science at the University of Michigan.

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I study international relations and the political psychology of conflict, examining the behavioral micro-foundations underpinning war and political violence across and within societies. 
My research crosses subfield lines, adapting theories and tools from the fields of American and comparative political behavior to provide insight into how emotional and cognitive processes impact the behavior of the mass public and political elites in conflict contexts. Some of my current projects examine, for example: the role of emotions in political conflict, the long-term effects of exposure to political violence, group processes in foreign policy decision-making, and the strategic psychology of terrorist targeting and recruitment.

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My work is published or forthcoming at a number of journals, including World Politics, International Organization, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Global Security Studies, Political Psychology, Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, and European Psychologist. My first book, The Polythink Syndrome (with Alex Mintz), was awarded the 2016 Alexander George Book Award by the International Society of Political Psychology for best book in the field of political psychology. My second book, Beyond Rationality: Behavioral Political Science in the 21st Century (with Alex Mintz & Nicholas Valentino) with Cambridge University Press was published in 2021. This book aims to provide a unifying framework of behavioral approaches to political science and is designed as an introductory text for graduate students and other scholars interested in integrating behavioral approaches with rational choice models of politics.​