Presidential Decision Making

U.S. National Security

East Asian Security

Education

• Ph.D., Public Policy, University of Pittsburgh, 1999
• M.A., Political Science, Drew University, 1985
• B.A., Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, 1983

Research Interests

• Presidential decision making
• U.S. national security
• East Asian security

Select Publications

• Isolation and Engagement: Presidential Decision Making on China from Kennedy to Nixon (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, July 2022)
• Managing National Security Policy: The President and the Process (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, July 2003)
• “Deterrence and Commitment Across the Taiwan Strait: Lessons from Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy,” War on the Rocks, December 19, 2022
• “Simulating the US National Security Interagency Process: Solid Foundations and a Method of Assessment.” (with William T. Christiansen). Journal of Political Science Education (2022): 1-18.

Affiliations

• Affiliate faculty, Wilder School, VCU

Courses

• POLI 308: U.S. Presidency
• INTL 355: Asian Governments and Politics 
• INTL 361: Issues in World Politics 
• INTL 363: US Foreign Policy 
• HSEP 301: Terrorism (POLI 367)
  

Awards

• Elske V. P. Smith Award, College of Humanities and Sciences, 2023
• VCU REAL, Outstanding Mentor Award, 2021
• College of Humanities and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award, 2017
• Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Teaching Award, 2011
• Presidential Studies Quarterly Journal's Best Article 2001 for "Causes of Change in National Security Processes: Carter, Reagan, and Bush Decision Making on Arms Control," Presidential Studies Quarterly 31, no. 1 (March 2001)