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Brief Bio: Dennis Foster |
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| MAJ Dennis Foster is Assistant
Professor of International Studies and Political Science at the Virginia
Military Institute. After completing his bachelor's degree with a dual
major in political science and history at Fairleigh Dickinson University
(Madison, NJ) in 1998, Professor Foster undertook graduate studies at Penn
State University, receiving his PhD in political science in 2004. His
dissertation, The Bullies in the Their Pulpits: Diversion, Elite
Opposition, and US Conflict Behavior, examined the impact of
high-profile congressional opposition on the presidential propensity to use
force for domestic political purposes. Its main empirical findings
regarding the post-Civil War period reveal that, contrary to the
expectations of the diversionary (or "wag the dog") hypothesis prevalent in
public discourse and the academic literature, presidential administrations
are more likely to use force when facing congressional opposition to their
foreign policies and less likely to use force when facing congressional
opposition to their domestic policies. An article relating to this
project appears in the June 2006 issue of International Studies Quarterly.
Professor Foster also has published articles in Conflict
Management and Peace Science (on the variable incentives of major and
minor powers to engage in diversionary conflict given high inflation) and
Foreign Policy Analysis (on the use of diversionary force by presidents
of different ideological orientations). In 2007, he took over the book
review editorship of the Journal of Conflict Studies. Professor Foster's research interests also include the impact of other domestic factors on international conflict propensity, the determinants of strategy choice by insurgent (especially terrorist) groups, and conventional and nuclear deterrence. He has taught courses on American politics, international relations, American foreign policy, the politics of terrorist violence, and research design. Professor Foster lives in Fairfield, VA, with his wife, Jaclyn.
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