Associate Professor of International Affairs
Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor
Senior Fellow, Center for International Trade and Security

Curriculum Vitae

Professional Website

Dr. Jeffrey D. Berejikian is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Georgia, and Associate Professor in the Department of International Affairs. Dr. Berejikian earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, and held a previous appointment with the University of Tennessee.

 

Education
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  • PhD., University of Oregon, Political Science, 1995
  • MS, University of Oregon, Political Science, 1991
  • BS, California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, 1988
More About
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Dr. Jeffrey D. Berejikian is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor a the University of Georgia, and Associate Professor in the Department of International Affairs. Dr. Berejikian earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, and held a previous appointment with the University of Tennessee.  Dr. Berejikain’s research integrates findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience with contemporary foreign policy and appears in the top journals in the discipline, including the American Political Science Review, Political Psychology, and the Journal of Conflict Resolution. Dr. Berejikian has applied this approach to a broad set of topics including interstate conflict, military deterrence, environmental politics, human rights, nuclear proliferation, social revolution, democratic theory, and trade policy. His book, “International Relations Under Risk” is published by SUNY Press. It explores the conditions under which governments take inordinate risks in the conduct of their foreign  policy, and has been translated into Korean.  Dr. Berejikian has been invited  to discuss his research on National Public Radio and has been asked to offer recommendations to the U.S. government in the formation of deterrence policy.

Dr. Berejikian teaches a wide variety of courses, including semester long computer-based foreign policy simulation (www.berejikian.net). Students run their own countries and compete with one another in a networked envrionment. Dr. Berejikian’s teaching has received multiple awards recognizing the quality of his graduate and undergraduate teaching. He is a member of the University of Georgia Teaching Academy.

Areas of Expertise
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  • Foreign Policy
  • American Nuclear and Conventional Deterrence Policy
  • Psychology and Foreign Policy Decision Making
  • International Relations Theory
Honors, Awards, and Achievements
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  • University System of Georgia Chancellors Learning Scholar
  • University of Georgia First Year Oddssey Outstanding Teaching Award
  • University of Georgia Creative Teaching Award
  • Innovative Instruction Faculty Grant
  • Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Georgia
  • University of Georgia Teaching Academy
  • University of Georgia Senior Teaching Fellow
  • University of Georgia Student Government Association Outstanding Teaching
  • Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Georgia
  • School of Public and International Affairs Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Pi Sigma Alpha Award for Graduate Teaching, University of Tennessee
  • University of Tennessee Professional Development Award
  • Jefferson Prize for Outstanding Scholarship. University of Tennessee
  • University of Tennessee Scholarly Activities Research Incentive Award
  • University of Oregon Doctoral Research Fellowship

External Grants and Awards: (awarded: $1,343,621. Delivered to date: $467,396)

  • The Battle for Hearts and Minds: An Empirical Framework to Identify the Influence of Information Operations. $1,049,644. Department of Defense 2023-2028
  • “Nonproliferation Strategy to Practice: Assessing the State of Global Trade Control Implementation.” $95,977 Stanton Foundation. (Co-PI). 2020
  • Stanton Foundation Course Development Grant. (Co-PI) $49,953. 2020.
  • Chancellor’s Learning Scholars (CLS) Program, Board of Regents, University System of Georgia. $6,000 (Administered through Center for Teaching and Learning). 2019
  • “U.S. Cyber Deterrence, Stuxnet, and the 2016 Presidential Election” Affordable Learning Georgia, University System of Georgia (Co-PI). $25,000. 2018
  • “Risk Disposition and Multi-domain Strategic Stability: An empirical examination.” (multiple PI w/Zachary Zwald).  Project on Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction. Department of Defense. $160,000. 2018
  • Risk Disposition and Deterrence Effectiveness: An Examination of Psychological Determinants. (w/Zachary Zwald). Hobby Center for Public Policy $7,000. 2016
Course Instruction
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Undergraduate:

  • Foreign Policy Decision Making

  • Global Simulation

  • International Political Economy

  • Introduction to International Relations

  • Introduction to Political Psychology

  • Special Topics International Relations

  • Ancient and Medieval Political Theory

  • Environmental Politics

  • Introduction to Global Politics

  • Freshman Odyssey Seminar

  • Simulating International Politics

Graduate:

  • Military Deterrence Policy

  • International Political Economy

  • International Environmental Politics

  • International Relations Ph.D. pre-seminar

  • International Relations MIP core seminar

  • International Cooperation

  • Foreign Policy Decision Making

Research Interests
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My research utilizes insights from cognitive psychology and neuroscience to explain foreign policy. Currently, I am using this approach to understand military deterrence in the conventional, nuclear, and cyber domains. The research is funded by the Department of Defense, with the goal of improving deterrence policies and thereby reduce the prospect of military conflict.

Selected Publications
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Books:

International Relations under Risk: Framing State Choice. 2004. SUNY Press.

(Reprinted in Korean, 2010)

Peer-Reviewed Articles and Chapters:

“Does Military Experience Really Matter? An empirical examination of decision framing and deterrence decision making.” (w/Zachary Zwald) Journal of Global Security Studies. forthcoming

“Conditional assistance: Entrapment concerns and individual-level support for us alliance partners” (w/Florian Justwan) 2023. Journal of Global Security Studies, 8(3).

“Defense treaties increase domestic support for military action and casualty tolerance: Evidence from survey experiments in the United States. “(w/Florian Justwan) 2022. Contemporary Security Policy, 43(2).

“Challenges to Creative Thinking: Identifying Officer Background Beliefs in Limited Information Environments” (w/Zachary Zwald, Samantha Jane Daly, and Jeffrey Hannon) Joint Force Quarterly. 2022, 104(1).

“Is There a Public–Military Gap in the United States? Evaluating Foundational Foreign Policy Beliefs.” Armed Forces & Society (w/Zachary Zwald). 2021 (April)

“Analyzing Mass Attitudes Toward the International Court of Justice” (w/ Florian Justwan, Sarah K. Fisher) Foreign Policy Analysis, 2021. 17(2).

“Why Language Matters: Shaping Public Risk Tolerance During Deterrence Crises” (w/Zachary Zwald). 2020. Contemporary Security Policy. 41(4): 507-540. *Winner 2021 Bernard Brodie Prize for best article in security policy. https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/journal-prize-pgas-fcsp-prize/

“Referenda as commitment devices–an experimental approach.” 2020. (w/Florian Justwan, Sarah Fisher, Ashley Kerr). Research & Politics, 7(3)

“The Credibility of Cyber Deterrence Commitments: The Role and Nature of Public Support for Retaliation” (w/Samuel Wallace Marcotte). 2020. The Cyber Deterrence Problem, Aaron F. Brantly (ed). Rowman and Littlefield.

“Testing A Cognitive Theory of Deterrence” (w/Florian Justwan). In Behavioral Economics and Nuclear Weapons, A. Harrington and J.  Knopf . University of Georgia Press. 2019

“Measuring Social Trust and Trusting the Measure” (w/Florian Justwan & Ryan Bakker). 2018. The Social Science Journal.  55(2):149-159.

“David vs. Goliath: Risk and Weaker-state Confrontation” Foreign Policy Analysis. 2018. 14(3):326-345.

“Prospect Theory in International Relations.”  Oxford Bibliographies in International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, (Feb. 2016). DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199743292-0163

“Loss Aversion and Foreign Policy Resolve” (w/Bryan Early). 2013. Political Psychology. 34(5):649-671.

“Disaggregating Noncompliance: Abstention versus Predation in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime” (w/Matt Fuhrmann). 2012. Journal of Conflict Resolution. 56(3):355-381.

“Deploying Sanctions while Protecting Human Rights” (w/ Ella Shagabutdinova). 2007. Journal of Human Rights. 6(1):59-74.

“Model Building with Prospect Theory: A Cognitive Approach to International Relations Theory.” 2002. Political Psychology. 23(4):759-786

“Behavioral Decision Theory and the Gains Debate in International Politics” (with Matthew Mulford). 2002. Political Studies. 50(2):209-229.

“A Cognitive Theory of Deterrence” Journal of Peace Research. 2002. 39(2):165-183.

“Reflexive Action in International Politics” (w/ John Dryzek). 2000. British Journal of Political Science. 30(2):193-216. [Reprinted in Peace, Prosperity and Policy on the Korean Peninsula: The Limits of Coercive Diplomacy in the Korean Peninsula. In-Duk Kang, Ed. Institute for East Asian Studies (Seoul, Korea). 2005.]

“The Gains Debate: Framing State Choice” American Political Science Review. 1997. 91(4): 789-805.

“Reconstructive Democratic Theory” (w/ John Dryzek). 1993. American Political Science Review. 87(1):48-60.

“Revolutionary Collective Action and the Agent-Structure Problem.” 1992. American Political Science Review. 86(3):647-657. [Reprinted in Revolutions: Critical Concepts in Political Science, ed. Rosemary O’Kane. Routledge: London. 2000.]

Peer-Reviewed Teaching Essays:

Playing Games with Nuclear Bombs: Developing Future-Oriented Foreign Policy Simulations” (2021). Engaged Student Learning. (w/Molly Berkemeier) Denise Domnzi (e.d). University System of Georgia. Vol.3.

“Playing Video Games in the Classroom: Simulating an Experiential Learning Cycle to Teach International Affairs” (2020). Engaged Student Learning. Denise Domnzi (e.d). University System of Georgia. Vol.2

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