Fieldwork
I am a US-Asia Grand Strategy Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern California, a Korea Foundation Fellow, and I expect to receive my PhD in Political Science from the University of Missouri in May 2020. I study non-democratic politics, especially how leaders and regimes stay in power.
My dissertation, Elite Purges in Dictatorships, examines how dictators conduct elite purges. My central claim is that a dictator’s fear of being unseated by popular protests and foreign adversaries shapes whether to purge elites, who to target, and when to do so. Conversely, existing arguments emphasize how the coup threat informs a dictator’s decision to purge. The theory’s cross-national and individual-level implications necessitate a diverse set of data and empirical tests. This includes an original global cross-national quantitative dataset on military and civilian elite purges, and data on elite politics in Kim Jong Un’s North Korea.
My work has been published or is forthcoming in journals including Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Peace Research, Party Politics, Democratization, and Research & Politics.
PhD in Political Science, 2020
University of Missouri
MA in Intelligence and International Security, 2013
King's College London
BSc in Politics, 2010
Bristol University
“Elite Purges in Dictatorships” (book manuscript, working title)
“Keep Your Enemies Close: When Do Dictators Refrain From Purging Disloyal Elites?”
“Explaining Local-Level Effectiveness: A Non-Stationary Analysis of the UN Peacekeeping Operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo” (with Michael Hendricks and Bryce Reeder).
Teaching Instructor
PS2700 - Comparative Political Systems, Spring 2019.
Syllabus; Teaching evaluation
Lab Instructor
IPSA-USP: Basics of Spatial Interdependence in Theory and Practice, Spring 2018.
Teaching evaluation
PS3000 - Introduction to Political Research, Fall 2017.
PS2700 - Comparative Political Systems, Fall 2016.
Teaching Assistant
PS4700 - America’s Wars in Asia, Spring 2017.
PS4770 - Comparative Political Behavior, Spring 2016.
PS1100 - American Government, Fall 2015.
“The importance of regime similarity to explain democratic diffusion.” Democratic Audit, June 26, 2019.
“North Korea is Marching with South Korea at the Olympics Opening Ceremony. Does This Mean a Diplomatic Thaw is Coming?” The Washington Post, February 9, 2018.
“Will U.N. sanctions stop North Korean missile tests? Don’t count on it.” The Washington Post, August 9, 2017.