I am an Associate Professor and the Director of Doctoral Studies at the School of International Service (SIS) in American University, Washington DC. I study international security, with a focus on borders and territoriality, coercion and deterrence, the international aspects of state weakness and failure, and conflict spillover. I’ve done work on Africa, Latin America, and Europe, but mostly I concentrate on the Middle East, with a special attention to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Together with Joe Young, I lead the “Political Violence and Security” workshop in SIS. We meet as a group of faculty and graduate students, typically once a month, to discuss a work-in-progress paper of one of the participants: faculty, graduate students from the DC region, or visitors. We also host periodical book talks showcasing new and exciting books on the topic.