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UAlbany students and their faculty mentor research The Origins of International Cooperation
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Left to right: Audrey Lynn Comstock, Laura Covey, Jennifer Roman, faculty mentor Thomas Walker |
Research is a vital part of the University at
Albany undergraduate experience. Research stimulates
critical thinking, encourages experimentation and
promotes intellectual accomplishment. Abundant
opportunities exist for students to partner with
faculty researchers in a variety of disciplines—from
the arts to the social sciences to the nanoscale
sciences. Here is one such example:
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Audrey Lynn Comstock |
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Audrey Lynn Comstock
Bridgewater, NY
University Scholars Program
Political science major/ Geography minor
Professional goals: Ph.D. in political science, work on campaigns, write speeches, travel to study other governments and maybe become a university
professor
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Laura Covey |
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Laura Covey
East Syracuse, NY
University Scholars Program
Double major in Political Science and Criminal Justice
Professional goals:
law school, a Ph.D., become a professor |
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Jennifer
Roman |
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Jennifer Roman
East
Syracuse, NY
University Scholars Program
Major undecided
Professional goals: continued study in psychology, foreign affairs and languages to work as an ambassador or liaison to enhance global
communications
Quote:
As college students, we all have goals to lead successful lives. Part of that success comes from exposure to many different subjects. It also comes from learning in
different ways. By working on this research project, I am rewarded by being able to study my interests in a new light while also participating in important research.
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Thomas Walker |
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Thomas Walker, faculty mentor
Department of Political Science
Assistant Professor Thomas C. Walker's research interests include the history of international thought, American foreign policy, and international conflict. With colleagues
from the Rutgers Center for Global Security and Democracy, he recently coauthored a book entitled Presence, Prevention, and Persuasion: A Historical
Analysis of Military Force and Political Influence. He has published articles in International Studies Quarterly,
Naval War College Review, and International Studies Review. He also worked as an undergraduate research assistant for J. David Singer,
who initiated work on alliance data at the University of Michigan. |
The Research Project:
The Origins of International Cooperation
Formal military alliances constitute the most fundamental form of international cooperation. Data on military alliances, however, has progressed little beyond the initial
efforts conducted in the 1960's by David Singer's Correlates of War Project. In this study we extend the database on formal alliances by
identifying the sources and motives of alliance formation from 1816 to 2000. We examine the original texts from alliances and the associated secondary historical sources.
The goal is to identify differing motives for alliance formation and to discern whether different types of alliances are followed by patterns of future cooperation or
conflict. Ultimately this data will be useful for exploring questions of international polarity and peace, whether alliances ultimately deter or provoke specific
adversaries, and how the moral hazard problem may play out in the wake of alliance formation.
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