My research focuses on coercive statecraft—how stronger states use threats and inducements to influence their partners—and on what partner states do about it.
I work across three interconnected areas:
What happens when a security partner stops supplying weapons? My dissertation and my current project at RAND investigate how client states respond to arms curtailment and whether the denial of conventional weapons pushes states toward nuclear proliferation. This work introduces a new concept—arms curtailment—that expands the study of arms denial beyond formal embargoes to capture the full spectrum of ways that suppliers use weapons as instruments of influence.
South Asian Security and U.S.-India Relations
For over a decade, I have worked on the strategic dynamics of Southern Asia, with a focus on nuclear security, deterrence stability, and the evolving U.S.-India relationship. My co-edited volume, The Challenges of Nuclear Safety and Security: U.S. and Indian Perspectives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), grew out of years of bilateral engagement with Indian scholars and practitioners. I have also published on Pakistan’s nuclear posture, India’s naval nuclear capabilities, and the undersea competition in the Indian Ocean.
Track 1.5 Diplomacy and Strategic Engagement
Since 2012, I have designed and led over 20 Track 1.5 dialogues, war games, and tabletop exercises for U.S. government sponsors. This work creates space for the kind of candid, creative problem-solving that formal diplomatic channels cannot accommodate—and produces the contextual knowledge and institutional relationships that make my research possible.