• Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 2011, Political Science
• M.A., University of Denver 2005, Conflict Resolution
• B.A., Xavier University 2002, Economics and Spanish

Professor Owsiak studies three broad themes in his research: why countries fight one another, the bilateral processes or characteristics that promote peaceful relations between disputing countries, and the role of third-parties in peacefully (or diplomatically) ending conflicts and/or building more peaceful relations between countries. He is an expert on the dispute and management of international border territory (as well as the effects of these processes on democratization and interstate conflict), international rivalries, and international conflict management (including diplomacy, negotiation, mediation, and peacekeeping). The University of Georgia awarded him a Faculty Research Grant in 2013 to conduct fieldwork in Ireland/Northern Ireland to study the role of public opinion in the resolution of international border disputes in more depth. The US Department of Defense’s Minerva Initiative awarded he and his colleagues a multi-year grant in the period 2015-2017 to study identity claims and their effect on interstate relations. His work has appeared in the Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Peace Research, the British Journal of Political Science, Conflict Management and Peace Science, and Foreign Policy Analysis, in addition to other outlets. For his research work, he won the School of Public and International Affairs’ Faculty Research Award in 2017.

Professor Owsiak teaches courses in international relations (including theory), international conflict, crisis diplomacy, and international conflict management (i.e., peace studies) — including within the First-Year Odyssey program. He also advises both Sigma Iota Rho (honors society) and the Model United Nations club (also teaching a Practicum related to the club’s activities). Finally, he mentors a number of undergraduate students through the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO). As a result of these efforts, he was named a University of Georgia Teaching Academy Fellow for the 2013-2014 Academic Year and has received the University of Georgia’s CURO Mentoring Award (2014), the Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2015), and the First-Year Odyssey Seminar Program Teaching Award (2017).

• Interstate conflict
• Territorial disputes/conflicts
• Interstate rivalries
• Interstate borders
• International law
• Democratization
• Alliances
• International conflict management/resolution
• International negotiation/bargaining
• Mediation
• Peacekeeping

• First-Year Odyssey Seminar Program Teaching Award, 2017.
• Faculty Research Award, School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia, 2017.
• Minerva Initiative Grant, US Department of Defense, 2015. Project: “Identity Claims: Expanding the Issue Correlates of War (ICOW) Dataset” (with Paul Hensel, Sara Mitchell, and Krista Wiegand).
• Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 2015.
• Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Mentoring Award, 2014.
• Faculty Research Grant, University of Georgia, $10,000, 2013-2014.
• Teaching Academy Fellow, University of Georgia, 2013-2014.

• American Political Science Association – Member
• International Studies Association – Member
• Peace Science Society International – Member

• INTL 3200 Introduction to International Relations
• INTL 4220 International Conflict
• INTL 4285 Crisis Diplomacy
• INTL 4680 Peace Studies
• INTL 4710 Model United Nations Practicum
• INTL 6200 Pre-seminar in International Relations (Theory)
• INTL 8225 International Conflict Management
• INTL 8230 International Conflict
• FYOS 1001 Revolution and War

Professor Owsiak studies three broad themes in his research: why countries fight one another, the bilateral processes or characteristics that promote peaceful relations between disputing countries, and the role of third-parties in peacefully (or diplomatically) ending conflicts and/or building more peaceful relations between countries.

Peer-Reviewed Journals:

• “Democracy and the Settlement of International Borders, 1919-2000” (with Douglas M. Gibler). 2017. Journal of Conflict Resolution, forthcoming.
• “Conflict Management Regimes and the Management of Land, River, and Maritime Claims” (with Sara McLaughlin Mitchell). 2017. Political Science Research & Methods, forthcoming.
• “The Cart and the Horse Redux: The Timing of Border Settlement and Joint Democracy” (with John A. Vasquez). 2017. British Journal of Political Science, forthcoming. [Online Appendix]
• “Foundations for Integrating the Democratic and Territorial Peace Arguments.” 2016. Conflict Management and Peace Science, forthcoming. [Online Appendix]
• “The International Border Agreements Dataset” (with Allison K. Cuttner and Brent Buck). 2016. Conflict Management and Peace Science, forthcoming. [Online Appendix] [Dataset]
• “Border Settlement and the Movement toward and from Negative Peace” (with Paul F. Diehl and Gary Goertz). 2017. Conflict Management and Peace Science, forthcoming. [Online Appendix]
• “The Diffusion of International Border Agreements” (with K. Chad Clay). 2016. Journal of Politics 78(2):427-442. [Online Appendix]
• “Border Settlement, Commitment Problems, and the Causes of Contiguous Rivalry” (with Toby J. Rider). 2015. Journal of Peace Research 52(4):508-521. [Online Appendix]
• “Forecasting Conflict Management in Militarized Interstate Disputes.” 2015. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 32(1):50-75.
• “The Conflict Management Efforts of Allies in Interstate Disputes” (with Derrick V. Frazier). 2014. Foreign Policy Analysis, 10(3):243-264.
• “Regional Influences on Mediation Behavior” (with Derrick V. Frazier and Virginia Sanders). 2014. International Negotiation 19(2):285-314.
• “Conflict Management Trajectories in Militarized Interstate Disputes: A Conceptual Framework and Theoretical Foundations.” 2014. International Studies Review 16(1):50-78.
• “Democratization and International Border Agreements.” 2013. Journal of Politics 75(3):717-729.
  [Online Appendix]
• “Clearing the Hurdle: Border Settlement and Rivalry Termination.” (with Toby J. Rider). 2013. Journal of Politics 75(3):757-772. [Online Appendix]
• “Signing Up for Peace: International Boundary Agreements, Democracy, and Militarized Interstate Conflict.” 2012. International Studies Quarterly 56(1):51-66.
• “Demanding Peace: The Impact of Prevailing Conflict on the Shift from Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding” (with Alexandru Balas and Paul F. Diehl). 2012. Peace & Change 37(2):195-226 .

Book Chapters:

• “The Steps to War: Theory and Evidence.” 2017. In Encyclopedia of Empirical International Relations Theory, edited by William R. Thompson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
• “Issues, Leaders, and Regimes: Reaching Settlement in Northern Ireland.” 2017. In Theories of International Relations and Northern Ireland, edited by Timothy J. White. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 36-54.
• “Extending Peace to the Grassroots: The Need for Reconciliation in Northern Ireland after the Agreement” (with Timothy J. White and Meghan E. Clarke). 2013. In Lessons from the Northern Ireland Peace Process, edited by Timothy J. White. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 227-267
• “International Governmental Organizations” (with Paul F. Diehl). 2012. In The Encyclopedia of Globalization, edited by George Ritzer.  Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.

Edited Journal Issues:

• “Exploring Interdependence in International Conflict Management” (with Molly M. Melin). 2015. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 32(1).