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Alexander B. Downes, Assistant Professor

Alexander B. Downes
Contact Info:
On leave 2007 - 2008
Office Location: 
Office Phone:  660-4345
Email Address:  
Web Page:   http://www.duke.edu/~downes

Education:

PhD, University of Chicago, 2004
M.A. (Honors), University of Chicago, 1998
B.A. (Magna Cum Laude), Brown University, 1991
Specialties:

International Relations
Research Interests: Civilian victimization and civilian casualties, military effectiveness, settlements to civil wars, foreign-imposed regime change

Assistant Professor of Political Science specializing in international security. His current research focuses on the reasons why states target civilians and inflict civilian casualties in warfare. His book on this subject, Targeting Civilians in War, is forthcoming from Cornell University Press in spring 2008. Downes's research on civilian victimization has appeared in the journals International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Civil Wars. Previous research on the relative efficacy of partition versus negotiated settlements as solutions to ethnic wars was published in Security Studies and SAIS Review. Downes has held fellowships at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies (Harvard University), the Center for International Security and Cooperation (Stanford University), and is currently on leave at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (Harvard).

Curriculum Vitae
Recent Publications   (More Publications)

  1. A.B. Downes, Targeting Civilians in War (2008), Cornell University Press (Forthcoming.) .
  2. A.B. Downes, Draining the Sea by Filling the Graves: Investigating the Effectiveness of Indiscriminate Violence as a Counterinsurgency Strategy, Civil Wars, vol. 9 no. 4 (December, 2007), pp. 420-444 .
  3. A.B. Downes, Introduction: Modern Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Comparative Perspective, Civil Wars, vol. 9 no. 4 (December, 2007), pp. 313-323 .
  4. A.B. Downes, Restraint or Propellant? Democracy and Civilian Fatalities in Interstate Wars, Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 51 no. 6 (December, 2007), pp. 872-904 .
  5. A.B. Downes, More Borders, Less Conflict? Partition as a Solution to Ethnic Wars, SAIS Review, vol. 26 no. 1 (Winter, 2006), pp. 49-61 .