Abstract: In the past two decades China has expanded its influence in the Middle East, working towards what I call “soft integration,” focused on building economic ties through trade and infrastructure development. In contrast, the United States has continued to prioritize what I call “hard integration,” focused on strategic alliances with security commitments, basing of military assets, and the integration of regional defense systems. An ongoing challenge is that the two integration processes are increasingly encountering points of conflict leading […]
Faculty Publications
Dr. Karl DeRouen “Are Non-Inclusive Peace Agreements Effective Counter-Insurgency Strategies” Journal Article
Author(s): Dr. Karl DeRouen (University of Alabama) and Dr. Marie Olson Lounsbery (East Carolina University)
Abstract: Civil wars are complex in ways that challenge effective resolution. Civil war actors tend to be dynamic in nature and often splinter then coalesce over time potentially evolving into multiple dyads pitted against their government. Previous work has demonstrated that when multiple rebel factions emerge, civil wars tend to be longer in duration as satisfying multiple factions tends to be more challenging. However, governments may choose to pursue dyadic agreements hoping to end the conflict either through subsequent dyadic […]
The US Constitution in 5 Minutes Book
Author(s): Joseph Smith
Electoral Patterns in Alabama: Local Change and Continuity Amid National Trends Book
Author(s): Regina Wagner
Abstract: While significant attention in political science is devoted to national level elections, a comprehensive look at state level political dynamics in the United States is so far sorely missing, and state level electoral developments and shifts are treated as mere reflections of national-level dynamics and patterns, which significantly impacts our ability to understand macro-level electoral shifts in the United States in general. This book analyzes gubernatorial, congressional, and presidential election results in the state of Alabama from 1945 through 2020. Comprehensive maps of county-level partisan […]
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The Post-Communist World in the Twenty-First Century: How the Past Informs the Present Book
Author(s): Barbara Chotiner
Friendly Sovereignty: Historical Perspectives on Carl Schmitt’s Neglected Exception Book
Author(s): Ted Miller
Book releasing on Sept 20, 2022 Abstract: Over the last one hundred years, the term “sovereignty” has come to be associated with the capacity of leaders to declare emergencies and to unleash harmful and often violent powers. Friendly Sovereignty explores the blind spots of this prevailing perspective. In this book, Ted H. Miller challenges the view of sovereignty propounded by Carl Schmitt, the influential German jurist, political theorist, and member of the Nazi Party. Miller reveals Schmitt to be preoccupied […]
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Hard White: The Mainstreaming of Racism in American Politics Book
Author(s): Richard Fording
Published 2020, Oxford University Press Abstract: Hard White explains how the mainstreaming of white nationalism occurred, pointing to two major shifts in the movement. First, Barack Obama’s presidential tenure, along with increases in minority representation, fostered white anxiety about Muslims, Latinx immigrants, and black Americans. While anti-Semitic sentiments remained somewhat on the fringes, hostility toward Muslims, Latinos, and African Americans bubbled up into mainstream conservative views. At the same time, white nationalist leaders shifted their focus and resources from protest […]
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Divined Intervention: Religious Institutions and Collective Action Book
Author(s): Christopher Hale
Party Mandates and Democracy: Making, Breaking, and Keeping Pledges in Twelve Countries Book
Author(s): Terry Royed
Right-Wing Critics of the American Conservative Movement Book
Author(s): George Hawley
Generating Generosity in Catholicism and Islam: Beliefs, Institutions, and Public Goods Provision Book
Author(s): Christopher Hale
Abstract Using an innovative methodological approach combining field experiments, case studies, and statistical analyses, this book explores how the religious beliefs and institutions of Catholics and Muslims prompt them to be generous with their time and resources. Drawing upon research involving more than 1,000 Catholics and Muslims in France, Ireland, Italy, and Turkey, the authors examine Catholicism and Islam in majority and minority contexts, discerning the specific factors that lead adherents to help others and contribute to social welfare projects. […]
Winning at Following: Secrets to Success in Supporting Roles Book
Author(s): J. Norman Baldwin
Published 2016 Abstract This book presents the first and only road map for finding success and happiness in life’s most common yet underrated role—that of follower. The book synthesizes the findings from the quantitative and qualitative research to reveal the qualities and skills that leaders and managers are looking for in the ideal subordinate. However, the premise of this book is that pleasing the boss is never enough. It is critical that followers please themselves. The book consequently identifies the […]
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Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring Book
Author(s): Holger Albrecht
University of Pennsylvania Press (Published 2016) Abstract Armies and Insurgencies in the Arab Spring explores the central problems surrounding the role of armed forces in the contemporary Arab world. How and why do military apparatuses actively intervene in politics? What explains the fact that in some countries, military officers and rank-and-file take steps to defend an incumbent, while in others they defect and refrain from suppressing popular protest? What are the institutional legacies of the military’s engagement during, and in the […]
“US Military Strategy in the Middle East and the Challenge of Demilitarization” Book Chapter
Author(s): Dr. Waleed Hazbun
Abstract: With its troop withdrawals from Iraq in 2011 and Afghanistan in 2021, the US exhibits a much smaller military footprint in the Middle East than it did in the mid to late 2000s. US regional strategy, however, remains structured around the capacity to deploy military force as a means maintain regional influence, contain Iran, and compete against China and Russia. For many analysts, political leaders, and much of the US public, a reduced military posture in the Middle East […]
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“Revisiting the (lack of) association between objective and subjective measures of local fiscal condition” Journal Article
Author(s): Dr. Sungho Park (University of Alabama), et al.
Abstract: Recent fiscal condition literature has been attentive to the consistency between subjective measures of local fiscal condition based on public officials’ perceptions and their objective counterparts measured using financial data. Studies have found little evidence of a relationship between them, leading scholars to speculate flaws in measurement or intentional lack of association. This study reevaluates the issue by investigating intervening explanations for the absence of connection. Analyzing survey and audited financial data from 185 municipalities across 31 states, […]
“Join or Die: How Deontological Moral Intuitions Complicate Cooperation amid the Covid-19 Pandemic” Journal Article
Author(s): Dr. Alessandro Del Ponte
Abstract: Tackling COVID-19 requires universal collective action: everyone must play their part to reduce the spread of the virus and quell the pandemic. Yet, some people obstinately refuse to cooperate, irrespective of the consequences for themselves and others. In this note, I illustrate a key element of human psychology that hampers cooperation amid the pandemic: deontological moral intuitions. Deontological morality prescribes that moral taboos must be followed no matter the consequences. This means that people who consider Covid vaccines a […]
“Between Tragedy and Chaos: US Policy in a Turbulent Middle East under Obama and Trump” Book Chapter
Author(s): Dr. Waleed Hazbun
“Information about historical emissions drives the division of climate change mitigation costs” Journal Article
Author(s): Dr. Alessandro Del Ponte
Dr. Alessandro Del Ponte (University of Alabama), Aidas Masiliūnas (University of Sheffield), Noah Lim (National University of Singapore) Abstract: Despite worsening climate change, the international community still disagrees on how to divide the costs of mitigation between developing countries and developed countries, which emitted the bulk of historical carbon emissions. We study this issue using an economic experiment. Specifically, we test how information about historical emissions influences how much participants pay for climate change mitigation. In a four-player game, […]
“In the Shadow of No Future” Journal Article
Author(s): Dr. Daniel Levine
Abstract: Short pedagogy article on teaching the Israel-Palestine conflict; appeared as part of the “Justice” Issue of AJS Perspectives
“Partisanship in times of crisis: evidence from Italy” Journal Article
Author(s): Dr. Alessandro Del Ponte
Partisanship in times of crisis: evidence from Italy Dr. Alessandro Del Ponte (University of Alabama), Alexa Bankert, and Leonie Huddy Journal Article in Abstract: There is a continuing debate over the political importance and durability of partisan attachments in European multi-party systems. Drawing on a nationally representative five-wave panel, we provide a longitudinal test of the power of partisanship in Italy over the course of the tumultuous 2013 national elections. We find that a strong partisan affiliation measured as a […]
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