I consider contributing to policy-making to be an integral part of the job of being a political scientist. As such, I make my myself available to media sources for interviews, consult for policy-makers, and write in popular media and blogs about my research. The primary topics I discuss focus on my primary research agendas, namely conflict and peacekeeping (primarily in West Africa) and the impact of electoral politics on foreign policy. However, I've also written about how conflict intersects with migration, climate change, and drug trafficking..
I am a regular contributor to the Good Authority blog as a Good Authority fellow.
Policy Contributions
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Understanding the Connection Between Democracy and Climate Change. University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, April 18, 2025.
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How Online Misinformation Paved the Way for America’s Pivot Away from Ukraine. University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, March 17, 2025.
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New Questions and Insights from the Launch of IGCC's Climate-Democracy Incubator: Five Key Questions Raised. University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, February 25, 2025.
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Impartiality among UN Peacekeepers is key to ending communal violence in sub-Saharan Africa. London School of Economics Africa Blog, September 30, 2022.
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Does UN Peacekeeping Work? A New Perspective. Political Violence at a Glance, September 26, 2022.
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Everyone has an opinion on Afghanistan—Do voters care? The Hill, September 1, 2021
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Washington University professor analyzes what went wrong in Afghanistan, what’s next for allies. NBC St. Louis KSDK, August 17, 2021
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Taliban Strategy Changes. Scripps National News, August 17, 2021
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WashU Expert: Afghanistan crisis was a predictable catastrophe. The Source at Washington University in St. Louis, August 17, 2021
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Second Presidential Debate Panel Discussion. Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, October 22, 2020
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What lies ahead for Mali. Interview with Al Jazeera, September 7, 2020
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The Military Has Ousted Mali's President. That Raises Questions about the Country's Ongoing Security Challenges. The Monkey Cage, August 26, 2020
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Mali Country Report: Risks from the EU's Southern Border. EU-LISTCO, January 2020
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Why Audiences (Mostly) Don't Care about Reputation in Foreign Policy. The Duck of Minerva, September 7, 2019
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Democracies' Electoral Compromise. The National Interest, July 29, 2015. With Nikolay Marinov