Jake Kathman is a professor in Comparative Politics and International Relations. He joined the department in the fall of 2012. Jake studies conflict processes including issues of civil war, interstate conflict, civilian victimization, and the various means of conflict management. His work has been published in Oxford University Press, The American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, and elsewhere. Jake received his Ph.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill. He also received his MA from George Washington University and his BA from the University of Rochester.

• PhD, Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• MA, Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• MPA, Public Administration, George Washington University
• BA, Political Science, University of Rochester

Civil war processes; political violence; United Nations peacekeeping

• PSC 721 – Civil War and Political Violence
• PSC 650 – Human Rights
• PSC 102 (Online) – Introduction to International Relations
• PSC 103 – Introduction to Comparative Politics
• PSC 199 – The Logic of Violent Conflict: Making Sense of War and Political Hostilities
• PSC 338 – Comparative Foreign Policies
• PSC 343 – The Politics of Domestic Unrest
• PSC 370 (Study Abroad) – African Politics: Political Instability in Uganda

• Peacekeeping in the Midst of War (with Lisa Hultman and Megan Shannon). Oxford University Press. Winner of the American Political Science Association Conflict Processes Section Best Book Award for books published in 2018 & 2019.
• “Cut Short? United Nations Peacekeeping and Civil War Duration to Negotiated Settlements” (with Michelle Benson). Forthcoming in the Journal of Conflict Resolution.
• “Who Keeps the Peace? Understanding State Contributions to UN Peacekeeping Operations” (with Molly Melin). 2017. International Studies Quarterly 61(1): 150-162.
• “Personnel Composition and Member State Contributions to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.” 2017. Forum: “The Known Knowns and Known Unknowns of Peacekeeping Data,” edited by Govinda Clayton. International Peacekeeping 24(1): 1-62.
• “Stopping the Killing during the ‘Peace’: Peacekeeping and the Severity of Post-Conflict Civilian Victimization” (with Reed M. Wood). 2016. Foreign Policy Analysis 12(2): 149-169.
• “United Nations Peacekeeping Dynamics and the Duration of Post-Civil Conflict Peace” (with Lisa Hultman and Megan Shannon). 2016. Conflict Management and Peace Science 33(3): 231-249. [Awarded The Palmer Prize for Conflict Management and Peace Science’s article of the year.]
• “Competing for the Crown: Inter-Rebel Competition and Civilian Targeting in Civil Conflict” (with Reed M. Wood). 2015. Political Research Quarterly 68(1): 167-179.
• “Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Peacekeeping Effectiveness in the Midst of Fighting” (with Lisa Hultman and Megan Shannon). 2014. American Political Science Review 108(4): 737-753.
• “Too Much of a Bad Thing? Civilian Victimization and Bargaining in Civil War” (with Reed M. Wood). 2014. British Journal of Political Science 44(3): 685-706.
• “UN Bias and Force Commitments in Civil War” (with Michelle Benson). 2014. Journal of Politics 76(2): 350-363.
• “United Nations Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection in Civil War” (with Lisa Hultman and Megan Shannon). 2013. American Journal of Political Science 57(4): 875-891.