Along with the  face-lift come some new faces to the Duck. Well, new names anyway. We recruited this year based on the desire to increase diversity on the blog, particularly in methodology and area expertise; and also to cover some staple topics while one or more permanent contributors (myself included) cut back for a time to finish book projects and deal with other commitments. Please welcome the following guest bloggers to our site for the following academic year.

Phil Arena is Assistant Professor of Political Science at SUNY Buffalo.  He specializes in international conflict, focusing particularly on bargaining models of war and the links between domestic politics and international relations – so he will bring much-needed methodological diversity to the Duck.  You can check out his very exciting IR blog here.

Adrienne LeBas is Assistant Professor Government at American University. Her research interests include social movements, democratization, and political violence. She specializes in African politics, so will fill an important gap in our area expertise; and has also worked as a consultant for Human Rights Watch in Zimbabwe, where she lived from 2002 to 2003. She is the author of From Protest to Parties: Party-Building and Democratization in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2011).  Her most recent work  looks at the causes and consequences of political violence in democratizing regimes.

Michael Horowitz is Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Pennsylvania. His research revolves around international conflict and security issues.  He is also interested in the intersection of religion and international relations, the role of leaders in international politics, and international security issues in East Asia.  His is the author of The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes and Consequences for International Politics.

Betcy Jose is Assistant Professor at University of Colorado-Denver, specializing in the politics of international humanitarian law and affairs, also with an area interest in Africa and boasting a law degree as well as a PhD in political science. She has previously guest-posted at the Duck, and will fill in for me on the rules of war side of things until my book is finished plus anything else she’d like to write about.

Amanda Murdie is Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Missouri-Columbia. She specializes in the behavior of international non-governmental organizations and their interactions with states, local populations, and intergovernmental organizations. She is also interested in human rights, development, quantitative methodologies, formal modeling, and conflict more generally.

Welcome, guests.