Barbara F. Walter

Expertise

Professor Walter is an authority on international security, with an emphasis on internal wars, bargaining and cooperation, and terrorism/counter-terrorism.

Media:

• Counter-Terror not Counter-Insurgency in Afghanistan,” San Diego Union Tribune, October 9, 2009, Opinion-Editorial.

• “Too Soon To Leave Iraq,” Los Angeles Times, August 4, 2009, Opinion-Editorial.

• “You Can’t Win With Civil Wars,” Los Angeles Times, October 2, 2007, Opinion-Editorial.

• “Expert on Civil Wars Says the Conflict in Iraq is Probably Far from Over,” KPBS Radio San Diego. October 9, 2007.

• Shankar Vedantam, “Wariness, Not Hatred, Keeps Civil Wars Raging,” Washington Post, May 7, 2007.

• Sebastian Mallaby, “And Now, Back to the War: Some See Pullout Shortening Conflict,” Washington Post, November 6, 2006.

 

Affliliations:

Member, American Political Science Association, International Studies Association, Peace Sciences Association, Women in International Security.

Advisory Board, Institute on International, Comparative and Area Studies (IICAS), UC San Diego.

Editorial Boards:
- International Organization
- Journal of Conflict Resolution
- International Studies Quarterly
- International Interactions

Background Notes

Prior to joining IR/PS in 1996, Walter was a post-doctoral fellow at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University and a post-doctoral fellow at the War and Peace Institute at Columbia University. Walter is a recipient of numerous grants and fellowships. These include awards from the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Smith Richardson Foundation.

Professional Activities

Board member, International Organization, 2005-2008

Advisory board, International Institute on Comparative and Area Studies, UCSD, 2006-2008

Reviewer: American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, International Organization, International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, World Politics, Comparative Politics, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Theoretical Politics, Journal of Economic Literature, Political Science Quarterly.

Member: American Political Science Association, International Studies Association, Peace Sciences Association, Women in International Security.

Research Interests

Recent Working Papers:

“The Effect of Repeated Play on Reputation Building: An Experimental Approach,” October 2009, with Dustin Tingley.

“Does Cheap Talk Matter? An Experimental Analysis,” June 2009, with Dustin Tingley.

“Outbidding and the Overproduction of Terrorism,” October 2009, with Andrew Kydd.

How Terrorism Works and What We Can Do to Stop It.  Book Project.

"Does Anyone Ever Transition to Democracy?: Explaining Post-Conflict State-Building."  Working Paper.

Data Sets:

1.  The Civil War Resolution Dataset.

Replication data for Barbara F. Walter.  Committing to Peace: The Successful Settlement of Civil Wars, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002).

Data File (.xls).
Codebook (.pdf).

2.  Recurring Civil War Dataset.

Replication data for Barbara F. Walter “Does Conflict Beget Conflict? Explaining Recurring Civil War,” Journal of Peace Research. Vol. 41, no. 3 (May 2004).

Data File (ZIP file of .dta).
Codebook (.pdf).

3.  Government Accommodation of Separatist Groups Dataset.

Replication data for Barbara F. Walter “ Building Reputation: Why Governments Fight Some Separatists But Not Others,” American Journal of Political Science, (Spring 2006).

Data File (.xls).

4.  Self-Determination Movement Dataset. Replication data for Barbara F Walter “Information, Uncertainty and the Decision to Secede,” International Organization. Vol. 60, no. 1 (Winter 2006).

Data File (ZIP file of .dta).

Recent Publications

Reputation and Civil War: Why Separatist Conflicts Are So Violent, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

“Bargaining Failures and Civil War,” Annual Review of Political Science, Spring 2009.

“The Strategies of Terrorism,” International Security, Summer 2006, with Andrew Kydd. This is one of the 10 most downloaded articles in International Security.

“Building Reputation: Why Governments Fight Some Separatists But Not Others,” American Journal of Political Science, Spring 2006.

“Information, Uncertainty and the Decision to Secede,” International Organization, Vol. 60, no. 1, Winter 2006.

IRCO 410 International Politics and Security

Course Description:

Syllabus.

Development of analytic tools for understanding international relations with applications to contemporary problems such as the environment, nuclear proliferation, human rights, humanitarian interventions, and the roots of conflict and cooperation among countries.

IRGN 401 Ethnic Conflict

Course Description:

Syllabus.

IRGN 490 Understanding Terrorism

Course Description:

Syllabus.

Terrorism