I am an Assistant Professor of International Relations and Political Methodology.  I am so thrilled to be part of the great Political Science Department at Binghamton University. Prior to this post, I worked at the University of South Carolina for three years. 

My research focuses on how the domestic political incentives of leaders targeted by foreign policy affect the outcome of influence attempts. I examine how domestic processes of leader turnover and dynamics in support and opposition coalitions condition the effects of foreign aid and economic sanctions on targeted leaders. My work often concludes that the room available for compelling changes in target behavior is tight indeed, even for very powerful countries. In more recent work, I am delving into the dynamics of protest and repression. I am particularly interested in how leader incentives change over time in ways that may make increased repression predictable. New work with co-authors also explores the role of domestic politics in more detail, incorporating policy preferences and social movement theory into my studies of aid and sanctions. 

To improve my statistical analyses of leader turnover, I have developed a dataset which provides the basis for more refined identification of leader "failures." The current version is available on the Regular Turnover Details page. I am currently performing validity checks to ensure the accuracy of an updated version with information on turnovers from 1960-2014. Please contact me if you are interested in this newer data.