A copy of my CV can be found here:
I am currently an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Brigham Young University.
In my research, I seek to find answers to questions regarding interstate conflict and war. To this end, I have sought to understand how the issues states are disputing over affect their strategic behavior during war and other forms of interstate conflict. To find answers to these questions, I have employed a diverse array of methods and approaches. I have used sophisticated statistical techniques, world-wide surveys of expert opinion to create measures of issue divisibility and salience, and archival research. Ultimately, my research agenda makes a major contribution to our understanding of why some wars are especially long and why some states seem reluctant to end them.
I am also interested in understanding how democratic leaders respond to the multiple and competing pressures of prosecuting an interstate war. In recently completed work with co-authors, I have explored how democratic leaders balance electoral incentives against military success. I am intending on examining this relationship further in two future papers which will explore the political consequences of these decisions, as well as applying for grants to collect service records data from the UK, and tying the findings of these projects together into a book.
Douglas Atkinson 