Zachary Shirkey
Zachary C. Shirkey (Phd Columbia University) is Associate Professor of Political Science at Hunter College, CUNY. He has published on military intervention, alignment choices, and war duration in the Journal of Peace Research, the International Studies Review, Civil Wars, and the Journal of Theoretical Politics. His has written three books: Is This a Private Fight or Can Anybody Join?, Joining the Fray, and Uncertainty, Threat, and International Security, the latter coauthored with Ivan Savic.
Subjects: Military & Security Studies
Biography
Zachary C. Shirkey (Phd Columbia University 2006) is Associate Professor of Political Science at Hunter College, CUNY. He has published on military intervention, alignment choices, and war duration in the Journal of Peace Research, the International Studies Review, PS, Civil Wars, and the Journal of Theoretical Politics. His has written three books: Is This a Private Fight or Can Anybody Join?, Joining the Fray, and Uncertainty, Threat, and International Security, the latter coauthored with Ivan Savic.Education
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PhD, Columbia University, 2006
BA, University of Michigan, 1999
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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International Relations
Military Intervention
Causes of War and War Duration
State Alignment Decisions
Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Books
Articles
Joining by Number: Military Intervention in Civil Wars
Published: Mar 29, 2017 by Civil Wars
Authors: Zachary C. Shirkey
The article argues that states' reevaluate their decisions to remain out of civil wars in response to revealed information. This information often indicates opportunities and threats thereby causing states to intervene. The argument is tested using generalized estimating equations on both the COW and PRIO civil war datasets.
Uncertainty and War Duration
Published: Jun 01, 2016 by International Studies Review
Authors: Zachary C Shirkey
Existing rationalist explanations of long, intensely fought wars focus on commitment problems rather than private information as the cause of such wars. While commitment problems are an important explanation for long wars, private information can endure deep into lengthy conflicts because new private information is created during wars and because states often disagree about their relative ability to bear costs rather than their relative military capabilities.
When and How Many: The Effects of Third Party Joining on Casualties and Duration
Published: Jun 01, 2012 by Journal of Peace Research
Authors: Zachary C Shirkey
What makes some wars longer and more severe than others is an important question in international relations scholarship. This article argues that late joining complicates bargaining by adding new issues to the war and increases uncertainty about the relative balance of forces. This means additional fighting and a longer war. This lengthening in turn increases the number of casualties.
Trust in the Balance
Published: Oct 01, 2009 by Journal of Theoretical Politics
Authors: Ivan Savic; Zachary C. Shirkey
Realists argue that balancing occurs in response to changes to the balance of power. Recent informational approaches have focused primarily on informational asymmetries or commitment problems. The paper combines these two approaches and builds on them by incorporating characteristics of the revisionist state and the potential balancer, as well as the specific challenge to the balance of power.