Research |
Conflict Processes and Political Resistance
Foreign Aid and Policy Political Geography and GIS |
Research Interests
My research focuses on subnational conflict processes and foreign aid. In the case of foreign aid, my research examines the conditions enabling some donors to better achieve their foreign policy objectives through aid commitments than others. This work complements the existing aid literature by asking what makes aid effective for the donors' purposes. When examining subnational conflict processes, my research examines the conditioning role of local and regional geographies on patterns of political resistance and cooperation, including civil conflict/war, terrorism, and non-violent action. To do so, I take advantage of new and recently available geo-referenced datasets, which better enable me to answer questions relating to where in space events occur, in addition to how they unfold and why they occur.
PublicationsClicking on the publication will link to the appropriate article on the publisher's website (where available).
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Volgy, Thomas J., Paul Bezerra, Jacob Cramer, and J. Patrick Rhamey, Jr. 2017. "The Case for Comparative Regional Analysis in International Politics." International Studies Review 19(3): 452-480.
Abstract: Despite their salience for international politics, the comparative analysis of regions remains under-theorized and underutilized. Given that states' geopolitical contexts likely condition how they conduct their external (and often internal) affairs, we seek to move the literature towards more systematic comparative understandings of the role regions play in international politics. We do so through four exercises. First, we examine the use of regions in quantitative international relations literature from 2010 - 2015 and find wide variation in the conceptualization and composition of regions across no fewer than 70 different regional labels. Second, we examine the use of regions as the primary unit or level of analysis in similar journal-based literature from 2005 - 2015 and find fewer than two-dozen such attempts. Third, we offer a conceptual and empirical approach to creating a regional delineation scheme based on the opportunity and willingness of states to interact with one another, and we apply the approach to the 2001 - 2010 time frame, allowing us to identify eleven regions. In our final exercise, we develop a theoretical framework to facilitate the comparative analysis of regions regarding the manner in which they may help to explain dynamics regarding conflict, cooperation, and diffusion processes. We offer a theoretical "bet" regarding the type of linkages within regions that are most likely to generate region-level expectations of these phenomena. Bezerra, Paul, and Alex Braithwaite. 2016. "Locating Foreign Aid Commitments in Response to Political Violence." Public Choice 169(3-4): 333 – 355. Abstract: Following a recent trend towards disaggregation in studies of foreign aid and political violence, we evaluate the determinants of foreign aid sub-nationally. We focus our attention upon political violence as a key determinant of aid commitments and argue that donors commit aid to areas with recent political violence in the hope of ameliorating need and bolstering stability. This being the case, however, we contend not all areas experiencing violence are equally likely to receive aid commitments. This is because potential donors are faced with a dilemma - balancing risk and reward - that leads them to question whether they can effectively deliver aid to areas under conditions of extreme violence. We test these two hypotheses and provide confirmation for them in the context of bilateral aid commitments to local areas within Sub-Saharan African states experiencing civil war between 1990-2007. Miller, Jennifer L., Jacob Cramer, Thomas J. Volgy, Paul Bezerra, Megan Hauser, and Christina Sciabarra. 2015. “Norms, Behavioral Compliance, and Status Attribution in International Politics.” International Interactions 41(5): 779 – 804. Abstract: Extant work on status attribution has largely focused on major powers or state capabilities as key explanatory factors driving these social processes and suggests that status considerations increase conflicts between states. We argue for a more comprehensive approach to status attribution that considers international norms as another major factor that is weighed in the attribution process. We contend that states (policymakers) evaluate one another not only on the basis of economic and military capabilities but also on the extent to which there is behavioral conformance with normative expectations and reward one another dependent upon whether these expectations are met. However, this attribution of status is dependent upon the level of contestation pertaining to that norm. Using a data set that assesses consistency with six different norms (resource transference, multilateralism, economic liberalism, democratic governance, respect for human rights, and peaceful dispute resolution), we find that status attribution is associated with norm-consistent behavior but only when these norms are uncontested at the global level. Bezerra, Paul, Jacob Cramer, Megan Hauser, Jennifer Miller, and Thomas J. Volgy. 2015. “Going for the Gold versus Distributing the Green: Foreign Policy Substitutability and Complementarity in Status Enhancement Strategies.” Foreign Policy Analysis 11(3): 253 – 272. First Page (in lieu of an abstract): Status and the relative ranking of states in international politics seem to be salient concerns for most foreign policymakers. Yet, the literature on how status rankings are attributed to states remains as scarce as research on the strategies utilized by states to maintain or enhance the status they are attributed. While there is more research conducted on both status attribution and status competition regarding major powers and rising powers, little systematic attention has focused on the larger population of states in international politics. One of the latest contributions to this literature is an analysis of successful competition in the summer Olympics as a state status-seeking strategy (Rhamey and Early 2013). The authors find that winning Olympic medals and hosting the Olympics have significant impacts on states’ status rankings. We do not question these results and, in fact, applaud the effort to map out one strategy of status enhancement. However, we raise a cautionary note about the complex foreign policy choices faced by states as they may pursue additional status. Within the toolbox of policymakers, there are a variety of policies with which to pursue the same objective in international politics, be it status enhancement or other goals. Typically, this interchangeability of strategies has been referred to in the litera- ture as foreign policy substitutability (Most and Starr 1984; Morgan and Palmer 2000; Palmer and Bhandari 2000). If in fact there are numerous policy options available for seeking enhanced status, then these policies should be examined— and evaluated--using a comparative policy perspective in order to determine whether or not they are substitutable and possibly complementary policies. |
Book Chapters |
Volgy, Thomas J., Kelly Marie Gordell, & Paul Bezerra. 2020. “Crucial Fault Lines in the Middle East: Inter-State Rivalries in Comparative Perspective.” In Imad Mansour & William R. Thompson (eds.), Shocks & Rivalry: Whatever Happened to Interstate Antagonisms in the Middle East. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
Volgy, Thomas J., Kelly Marie Gordell, Paul Bezerra, and J. Patrick Rhamey, Jr. 2017. “Conflict, Regions, and Regional Hierarchies.” In William R. Thompson (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Empirical International Relations Theories. New York: Oxford University Press. |
Data Projects |
Militarized Interstate Dispute Location Dataset (MIDLOC-A/I), v 2.0 (with Alex Braithwaite)
Cross Domain Deterrence: Basing Strategy and Power Projection (with Clara Suong, Erik Gartzke, and Alex Braithwaite) |
Select Manuscripts in Preparation |
"Development be Damned? A Comparative Foreign Policy Framework for Explaining the Effectiveness of Aid as a Tool of National Power."
“Territorial Control and the Local Targeting of Foreign Resources during Civil Conflicts,” (with Alex Braithwaite, & Tiffany Chu). "Where Civilizations Clash?: Geographic Proximity to Civilizational Fault Lines and Conflict Propensity." "Whose Borders are Bloody?: A Subnational Evaluation of Huntington's Contentious Claim." |
Book Proposal in Preparation |
"Weapon of Mass Assistance: Economic Assistance as Influence & National Power"
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Web-Based PublicationsClicking on the publication will link to the appropriate article on the publisher's website.
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Edwards, Martin S., Vanessa Alva-Araya, Teruo Katsukawa, Ronald Andrew, Jacquie Marte, Richard Armstrong, Jordan McGillis, Catherine Baxter, Joseph Messina, Paul Bezerra, Osman Oztoprak, Gene Bolton, Sofia Pantel del Queto, Jessica Carroll, Andrew Prempeh, Kelsey Christianson, Samuel Roods, James Einhaus, Nick Rosario, Emily Hampton, Subarna Saha, Teale Harold, Kyle Shong, Jennifer Ijichi, Constantina Soukas, Lorraine Joyce Guarino, Linda Karten, and Laurie Pine. “Can Economic Surveillance Make a Difference? Insights from the OECD,” Global Policy Journal. April 2013.
Abstract: This essay summarizes the results of a larger study evaluating the effectiveness of OECD economic surveillance in 24 randomly selected countries. Because the OECD’s advice is only backed by peer pressure, we would expect little evidence that this advice leads countries to adopt policy reforms. Through evaluating subsamples of cases of countries under economic crisis, exploiting within-country variation, and drawing comparisons with more legalized international organizations, we conclude that surveillance can indeed lead to policy reform. |