David Clark

Biography

Professor Dave Clark specializes in international conflict and foreign policy, focusing in particular on the domestic political processes and factors that lead states either to engage in conflict or to seek other policy alternatives. His current research examines the incentives political leaders have to substitute policy options for one another depending on the policy challenges they face, and focuses on the subtle strategic interaction that occurs between states as they select either peaceful or conflictual courses of foreign policy action. His most recent work seeks to model the process by which states observe each others' troubles and adjust their own behaviors either to exploit another state's weakness or to avoid becoming the target of another state's aggression. Clark also works toward developing statistical methodologies appropriate for testing hypotheses on strategic interaction. Professor Clark has published work on international conflict and methodology in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Political Research Quarterly and the American Journal of Political Science.

Research Interest

His current research examines the incentives political leaders have to substitute policy options for one another depending on the policy challenges they face, and focuses on the subtle strategic interaction that occurs between states as they select either peaceful or conflictual courses of foreign policy action.