Alexander B. Downes
Alexander B. Downes
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs; Director, Institute for Security and Conflict Studies
Full-time Faculty
School: Elliott School of International Affairs
Contact:
1957 E St. NW, Office #605H
Washington, D.C. 20052
Alexander B. Downes is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at The George Washington University. He works in the area of international security broadly defined, including subjects like civilian victimization in war, foreign-imposed regime change, military effectiveness, coercion, alliances, and civil war.
Downes is the author of two books, both from Cornell University Press: Targeting Civilians in War (2008) and Catastrophic Success: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Goes Wrong (2021). His work has also been published in journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, International Organization, International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Strategic Studies, and Security Studies, as well as multiple edited volumes.
Downes’s research and teaching have been recognized with several awards. Targeting Civilians in War won the Joseph Lepgold Prize from Georgetown University for the best book in international relations published in 2008. In 2016, Downes was named the winner of the inaugural Emerging Scholar Award, given by the International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association. And in 2022, he received the Elliott School’s Michael E. Brown Research Prize in recognition of his contribution to scholarly and policy-relevant understanding of important global issues. In recognition of his efforts in the classroom, Downes received the 2020 Harry Harding Teaching Prize from the Elliott School.
Downes has held fellowships at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, as well as the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University. His work has been funded by the Department of Defense Minerva Initiative, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Eisenhower Institute, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Office of Naval Research.
Downes teaches a variety of courses on IR and international security for undergraduates, M.A. students at the Elliott School, and Ph.D. students in Political Science. He holds an M.A. in International Relations and a Ph.D. in Political Science, both from the University of Chicago.
International security, civilian victimization and civilian casualties in war, foreign-imposed regime change, coercion, military effectiveness, nuclear weapons, civil war
Ph.D., University of Chicago
IAFF 1005, Introduction to International Affairs
IAFF 3180.82, Theory and Practice of Modern War
PSC 8452, Theories of International Security
PSC 8489, Coercion in International Politics
Books
Catastrophic Success: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Goes Wrong (Cornell University Press, 2021).
Targeting Civilians in War (Cornell University Press, 2008).
Recent Articles and Book Chapters
"Loyalty, Hedging, or Exit: How Weaker Alliance Partners Respond to the Rise of New Threats." Journal of Strategic Studies 46, no. 2 (2023): 227-68 (with Jasen J. Castillo).
"Creating a Cordon Sanitaire: U.S. Strategic Bombing and Civilians in Korea." In The Civilianization of War and the Unpredictable Civil-Military Divide, 1914-2014, edited by Andrew Barros and Martin Thomas, 196-220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
"Does Spreading Democracy by Force Have a Place in U.S. Grand Strategy? A Skeptical View." In The Case for Restraint: U.S. Grand Strategy for the 21st Century, edited by A. Trevor Thrall and Benjamin H. Friedman, 80-107. Abingdon: Routledge, 2018 (with Jonathan Monten).
"Step Aside or Face the Consequences: Explaining the Success and Failure of Compellent Threats to Remove Leaders." In Coercion: The Power to Hurt in International Politics, edited by Kelly M. Greenhill and Peter Krause, 93-114. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
"It's a Crime, but Is It a Blunder? Investigating the Military Effectiveness of Civilian Victimization." In Civilians and Warfare in World History, edited by Nicola Foote and Nadya Williams, 288-312. Abingdon: Routledge, 2018 (with Kathryn McNabb Cochran).
"No Business Like FIRC Business: Foreign-Imposed Regime Change and Bilateral Trade." British Journal of Political Science 47, no. 4 (2017): 749-782 (with Paul Zachary and Kathleen Deloughery).
"You Can't Always Get What You Want: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Seldom Improves Interstate Relations." International Security 41, no. 2 (2016): 43-89 (with Lindsey A. O'Rourke).