Kyle Beardsley, Professor

Contact Info:

Teaching (Fall 2026):

• POLSCI 168CNS.01, INTL CONFLICT RESOLUTION Synopsis

  Physics 227, MW 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

Education:

Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2006

Specialties:

Security, Peace, & Conflict
International Relations

Research Interests:

Kyle Beardsley (Ph.D., UCSD, 2006) is Associate Professor of Political Science. His research interests include the political consequences and causes of third-party involvement in peace processes, the nature of intrastate rebellion, the motivations for and implications of gender balancing in post-conflict security forces, and the effects of nuclear-weapons proliferation on crisis behavior. His book, The Mediation Dilemma, explores how third-party conflict management frequently does well in securing short-term peace but also can contribute to greater instability in the long run, especially when the third parties rely on leverage. Prior to coming to Duke, Prof. Beardsley was on faculty at Emory University.

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Wilkenfeld, J; Beardsley, K; James, P, A CENTURY OF INTERNATIONAL CRISIS BEHAVIOR (January, 2026), pp. 1-518 [doi]  [abs].
2. Beardsley, K, Mixed Blessings International Relationships of Assistance and Conflict (2026) .
3. Chen, C; Beardsley, K; Weidmann, NB, The grass is always greener on the other side: Transnational ethnic inequality and ethno-nationalist conflict, Journal of Peace Research, vol. 62 no. 7 (December, 2025), pp. 2355-2370, SAGE Publications [doi]  [abs].
4. Lobell, SE; James, P; Silverstone, SA; Asal, V; Beardsley, K; Gonzalez, E; Ripsman, NM; Adhikari, S; Levy, SW; Sorci, G; Jahanbani, N; van Wijk, A, Understanding Near Crises and Escalation in World Politics: A Mixed Methods Approach (January, 2025), pp. 1-153, Routledge [doi]  [abs].
5. Beardsley, K, The Coevolution of Networks of Interstate Support, Interstate Threat, and Civil War, Journal of Politics, vol. 86 no. 4 (October, 2024), pp. 1418-1430 [doi]  [abs].