My research interests lie at the intersection of domestic politics and inter- and intrastate conflict. I have published in International Organization, The British Journal of Political Science, and Mobilization. I have another paper accepted with minor revisions at Security Studies. My primary research agenda centers on questions related to armed conflict and the military's role in national governments. This is a vital subject in global security and conflict processes research, given the strong impact that military involvement in government can have on a state's prospects for democratization, propensity to repress, and tendency to become involved in international and domestic conflict. I am interested also in questions related to the onset and prevention of civil war, and the escalation of dissident claims on government to both civil war and non-violent protest. In my dissertation, I focus on how a state's history of poor outcomes in international conflict (i.e., defeats and stalemates) affects the military's role in government. I address this topic using new cross-national data on the proportion of high-ranking government positions held by military officers that I have collected with support from an NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant.  More information is available at my website.