Summer 2022 Alumni News

Boaz Atzili - Alumni - PhD

Atzili was granted the 2022-23 Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Award for a study of "Center-Periphery Interaction in Western Himalayas Borderlands."

He also presented “Buffer Zones and International Rivalry: Internal and External Geographic Separation Mechanisms," at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, and at the Fourth Annual Conference on International Boundaries in a Globalizing World.

Kevin Benson - Former Military Fellow

Spoke on the Ukraine-Russia War at the Senator Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics.

Matt Cancian - Alumni - PhD

Cancian published an article, “The Impact of Modern-System Training on Battlefield Participation by Kurdish Soldiers,” in the Journal of Conflict Resolution.

Christopher Clary - Alumni - PhD

His book, The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia, was released by Oxford University Press.

Mayumi Fukushima - Alumni - PhD

Fukushima published an article, “Time to Shelve Denuclearization and Negotiate a Halt to North Korea’s ICBM Program,” in War on the Rocks.

They spoke at the Belfer Center's International Security Program Special Event “East Asian Security after the War in Ukraine.”

They were awarded a $100,000 Charles Koch Foundation research grant.

Andrew Halterman - Alumni - PhD

Received the Lucian Pye Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis from the MIT Political Science Department.

Yinan He - Alum – PhD

Yinan He published an article, “The Japan Differential? Chinese Policy to Japan during the Trump Era,” in Asia Policy.

Paul Heer - former Statecraft Fellow

Heer published four op-eds in National Interest: “The Real Lesson for Taiwan From Ukraine,” “Why Americans Fear China's Rise,” “Why China Chose Russia on the Russo-Ukrainian War,” and “Can a US-China War Be Averted?”

Michal Ben-Josef Hirsch - Alumni - PhD

Hirsch was promoted to associate professor with tenure at Suffolk University in Boston.

Thomas Homer-Dixon - Alumni - PhD

Homer-Dixon sent out a “call for an international research program on the risk of a global polycrisis,” (with Ortwin Renn, and Johan Rockström.)

He presented “Climate and Conflict: Reflections after 30 years” at the Climate Change & (In)Security Conference at the University of Oxford.

Se Young Jang - Former fellow

Jang published an article, “South Koreans' Strong Support for Nuclear Weapons,” in the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) Dossier.

Gregory Koblentz - Alumni - PhD

Koblentz published three articles:

“The Urgent Need for an Overhaul of Global Biorisk Management” in CTC Sentinel (with  Lentzos and Rodgers).

“Insidious Insights: Implications of Viral Vector Engineering for Pathogen Enhancement” in Gene Therapy (with Sandbrink, Alley, Watson and Esvelt).

And “Supporting the Fight Against the Proliferation of Chemical Weapons Through Cheminformatics” in Pure and Applied Chemistry (with Costanzi, Slavick, Abides, Vecellio and Cupitt).

He also made 12 academic presentations, and appeared more than 15 times on TV and radio programs. 

Peter Krause - Alumni - PhD

Krause published three articles this quarter:

“Knowing is Half the Battle: How Education Decreases the Fear of Terrorism” in the Journal of Conflict Resolution.

“The Strategies of Counter-Secession: How States Prevent Independence,” in Nations and Nationalism.

 “Blowback Operations as Rebel Strategy: How Sectarian Violence Spread from Syria into Lebanon 2013-2014,” in Terrorism and Political Violence with Nils Hägerdal.

Alan Kuperman - Alumni - PhD

Kuperman published an article, “Moral hazard in Sudan’s ‘Two Areas’ – humanitarianism that perpetuates civil war,” in Conflict, Security & Development.

He wrote a commentary, “How Australia’s new leader can fix the submarine deal,” in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

He also presented a talk on “AUKUS and Nuclear Proliferation” at:

-Lowy Institute, Sydney, Australia

-Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

-Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, Australia

-University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Eric J. Labs - Alumni - PhD

Labs spoke at the Naval War College on March 2; at the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition conference on March 23; at a panel at the large Sea-Air-Space Conference on April 6, and at the annual conference of the Shipbuilder's Council of America on May 12.

He is currently working on analysis of the Navy's fiscal year 2023 shipbuilding report and on a report to Congress on the Navy's force structure.

Brian McCue - Alumni - PhD

McCue published a book: Essays on Search Theory. It continues the work that began with his  Course XVII dissertation, U-Boats In The Bay of Biscay (1990).

Andrew Miller - Alumni - PhD

Miller published an article, “Ethnicity and Violence in Weak States: Understanding the Mechanisms,” in Comparative Politics.

Joseph O'Mahoney - Former fellow

O’Mahoney won the 2020 McElvany Nonproliferation Award for his article: “The Smiling Buddha effect: Canadian and US policy after India’s 1974 nuclear test.”

Jeremy Pressman - Alumni - PhD

Pressman co-authored a journal article published in Mobilization, “Protests Under Trump, 2017-2021.”

He also received the Graduate Faculty Career Mentor of the Year award from UConn’s Center for Career Development.

Apichai W. Shipper - Alumni - PhD

Shipper published an article, “The Art of Thai Diplomacy: Parables of Alliance,” in Pacific Affairs.

He also joined the board of directors for the peer-reviewed journal Critical Asian Studies.

Joel J. Sokolsky - Former fellow

Sokolsky published an article in Konrad Adenhauer Shiftung (Ger.): “Multilateral Unilateralism: Europe’s Second Chance…on America’s Terms.” 

He published a new book, “Canada in NATO, 1949-2019,” and gave a reading from his new book at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Paul Staniland - Alumni - PhD

Staniland participated in a video for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on “Everything You Need to Know About the Sri Lanka Crisis.”

He won the 2022 Karl Deutsch Award from the International Studies Association as the scholar who is judged to have made (through a body of publications) the most significant contribution to the study of International Relations and Peace Research.

Brian Taylor - Alumni - PhD

Taylor wrote an article for Foreign Affairs: “The Power Struggle After Putin,” and another for Riddle: “Has Putin Lost It?”

Glenn Voelz - Former Military Fellow

Voelz published a novel, The Third Force.