James Fearon
Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Professor, by courtesy, of Economics
Political Science
Web page: http://web.stanford.edu/people/jfearon
Bio
James Fearon is Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, a professor of Political Science, and Senior Fellow in the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (elected 2012) and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected 2002). Fearon's research interests include civil and interstate war, ethnic conflict, the politics of economic development, and democratic accountability.
Academic Appointments
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Professor, Political Science
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Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
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Professor (By courtesy), Economics
Administrative Appointments
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Chair, Department of Political Science, Stanford University (2007 - 2010)
Honors & Awards
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Member, Council of Foreign Relations (2017-)
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Member, National Academy of Sciences (2012)
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Program Member, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (2005-2019)
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Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002)
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Karl Deutsch Award, International Studies Association (1999)
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Heinz Eulau Award for best article, American Political Science Review (1997)
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Gregory Luebbert Award for best article, Comparative Politics (1996)
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Helen Dwight Reid Award, American Political Science Association (1993)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Member, Council on Foreign Relations (2017 - Present)
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Member, International Organization (2012 - Present)
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Member, National Academy of Sciences (2012 - Present)
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Member, Journal of Conflict Resolution (2011 - Present)
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Member, International Theory (2009 - 2015)
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Member, Annual Review of Political Science (2007 - 2014)
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Member, American Journal of Political Science (2006 - 2009)
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Program Member, Canadian Institution for Advanced Research (2005 - 2019)
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Member, International Organization (2005 - 2009)
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Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002 - Present)
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Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (1999 - 2000)
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Member, International Organization (1998 - 2003)
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Member, American Journal of Political Science (1998 - 2002)
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Member, American Political Science Review (1997 - 2001)
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Residential Faculty Fellowship, Chicago Humanities Institute (1996 - 1997)
Program Affiliations
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Center for Human Rights and International Justice
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Program in International Relations
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Public Policy
Professional Education
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Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Political Science (1992)
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M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Political Science and Economics (1991)
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A.B., Harvard University (1985)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
political violence
2024-25 Courses
- Introduction to International Relations
INTNLREL 101, POLISCI 101 (Aut) -
Independent Studies (12)
- Advanced Individual Study in Political Methodology
POLISCI 359 (Spr) - Directed Reading
ECON 139D (Spr) - Directed Reading
ECON 239D (Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in Comparative Politics
POLISCI 249 (Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in Comparative Politics
POLISCI 349 (Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in International Relations
POLISCI 219 (Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in International Relations
POLISCI 319 (Win, Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in Political Methodology
POLISCI 259 (Spr) - Honors Thesis
POLISCI 299C (Win) - Honors Thesis Research
ECON 199D (Spr) - Practical Training
ECON 299 (Spr) - Senior Thesis
INTNLREL 198 (Aut)
- Advanced Individual Study in Political Methodology
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- Formal Theory I
POLISCI 356A (Win) - International Relations Theory, Part II
POLISCI 410B (Win) - Introduction to International Relations
INTNLREL 101, POLISCI 101 (Aut)
2022-23 Courses
- International Relations Theory, Part II
POLISCI 410B (Win) - Introduction to International Relations
INTNLREL 101, POLISCI 101 (Aut)
- Formal Theory I
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Jamie Hintson, Matthew Ribar -
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Denis Tchaouchev -
Doctoral (Program)
Jane Kaufmann, Sunny Li, Emily Russell, Denis Tchaouchev, Connor Wilke, Tomer Zaidman
All Publications
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In Memoriam: Robert L. Powell
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
2022
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0020818322000091
View details for Web of Science ID 000816876100001
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Directions for Research on Climate and Conflict.
Earth's future
2020; 8 (7): e2020EF001532
Abstract
The potential links between climate and conflict are well studied, yet disagreement about the specific mechanisms and their significance for societies persists. Here, we build on assessment of the relationship between climate and organized armed conflict to define crosscutting priorities for future directions of research. They include (1) deepening insight into climate-conflict linkages and conditions under which they manifest, (2) ambitiously integrating research designs, (3) systematically exploring future risks and response options, responsive to ongoing decision-making, and (4) evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to manage climate-conflict links. The implications of this expanding scientific domain unfold in real time.
View details for DOI 10.1029/2020EF001532
View details for PubMedID 32715014
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Climate as a risk factor for armed conflict.
Nature
2019
Abstract
Research findings on the relationship between climate and conflict are diverse and contested. Here we assess the current understanding of the relationship between climate and conflict, based on the structured judgments of experts from diverse disciplines. These experts agree that climate has affected organized armed conflict within countries. However, other drivers, such as low socioeconomic development and low capabilities of the state, are judged to be substantially more influential, and the mechanisms of climate-conflict linkages remain a key uncertainty. Intensifying climate change is estimated to increase future risks of conflict.
View details for DOI 10.1038/s41586-019-1300-6
View details for PubMedID 31189956
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Cooperation, Conflict, and the Costs of Anarchy
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
2018; 72 (3): 523–59
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0020818318000115
View details for Web of Science ID 000437299500001
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Civil War & the Current International System
DAEDALUS
2017; 146 (4): 18-32
View details for DOI 10.1162/DAED_a_00456
View details for Web of Science ID 000411503500002
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How Does Development Assistance Affect Collective Action Capacity? Results from a Field Experiment in Post-Conflict Liberia
AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW
2015; 109 (3): 450-469
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0003055415000283
View details for Web of Science ID 000360106200003
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Socially relevant ethnic groups, ethnic structure, and AMAR
JOURNAL OF PEACE RESEARCH
2015; 52 (1): 110-115
View details for DOI 10.1177/0022343314536915
View details for Web of Science ID 000349990300009
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A Conversation with Kenneth Waltz
ANNUAL REVIEW OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, VOL 15
2012; 15: 1-12
View details for DOI 10.1146/annurev-polisci-020511-174136
View details for Web of Science ID 000307954300001
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Self-Enforcing Democracy
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
2011; 126 (4): 1661-1708
View details for DOI 10.1093/qje/qjr038
View details for Web of Science ID 000297870200002
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Sons of the Soil, Migrants, and Civil War
WORLD DEVELOPMENT
2011; 39 (2): 199-211
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.11.031
View details for Web of Science ID 000286719400005
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Two States, Two Types, Two Actions
SECURITY STUDIES
2011; 20 (3): 431-440
View details for DOI 10.1080/09636412.2011.599192
View details for Web of Science ID 000299464900006
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Comments on R. Harrison Wagner's War and the State: The Theory of International Politics
INTERNATIONAL THEORY
2010; 2 (2): 333-342
View details for DOI 10.1017/S1752971910000126
View details for Web of Science ID 000208580400008
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Can Development Aid Contribute to Social Cohesion after Civil War? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Post-Conflict Liberia
121st Annual Meeting of the American-Economic-Association
AMER ECONOMIC ASSOC. 2009: 287–91
View details for DOI 10.1257/aer.99.2.287
View details for Web of Science ID 000266458300048
- Review Symposium on “State Failure and Challenges to Democratization in Africa,” comments on Robert Bates’ When Things Fell Apart: State Failure in Late-Century Africa Perspectives on Politics 2009 ; 7 (2): 361-363
- Evaluating Community-Driven Reconstruction: Lessons from post-conflict Liberia. Development Outreach 2009 ; 11 (2): 50-52
- Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Methods Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology edited by BoxSteffensmeier, J. M., Brady, H. E., Collier, D. Oxford: Oxford University Press . 2008
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International Institutions and Collective Authorization of the Use of Force
CAN THE WORLD BE GOVERNED: POSSIBILITIES FOR EFFECTIVE MULTILATERALISM
2008: 160-195
View details for Web of Science ID 000288315000006
- International Institutions and Collective Authorization of the Use of Force Can the World Be Governed? Possibilities for Effective Multilateralism edited by Alexandroff, A. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred Laurier University Press. 2008
- The Rise of Emergency Relief Aid. Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics edited by Barnett, M., Weiss, T. G. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 2008
- Economic Development, Insurgency, and Civil War. In Institutions and Economic Performance edited by Helpman, E. Harvard University Press. 2008
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Iraq's Civil War
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2007; 86 (2): 2-15
View details for Web of Science ID 000244489400001
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Ethnic minority rule and Civil War onset
AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW
2007; 101 (1): 187-193
View details for DOI 10.1017/S0003055407070219
View details for Web of Science ID 000244656100013
- Reforming International Institutions to Promote International Peace and Security Peace and Security 2006
- Ethnic Mobilization and Ethnic Violence. Oxford Handbook of Political Economy edited by Weingast, B. R., Wittman, D. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2006
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Primary commodity exports and civil war
JOURNAL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
2005; 49 (4): 483-507
View details for DOI 10.1177/0022002705277544
View details for Web of Science ID 000230489100003
- Comments of the Report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change Reforming the United Nations for Peace and Security, Proceedings of a Workshop to Analyze the Report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change New Haven, CT: Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. 2005
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Separatist wars, partition, and world order
Conference on EthnoNational Conflicts
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. 2004: 394–415
View details for DOI 10.1080/09636410490945965
View details for Web of Science ID 000229640500007
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Why do some civil wars last so much longer than others?
JOURNAL OF PEACE RESEARCH
2004; 41 (3): 275-301
View details for DOI 10.1177/0022343304043770
View details for Web of Science ID 000221702100003
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Neotrusteeship and the problem of weak states
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
2004; 28 (4): 5-43
View details for Web of Science ID 000221620700001
- Two Questions about Ethnicity and Nationalism: Explaining Motivations versus Explaining Variation The Evolution of Political Knowledge: Democracy, Autonomy, and Conflict in Comparative and International Politics Ohio State University Press . 2004
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Ethnic and cultural diversity by country
Annual Meeting of the American-Political-Science-Association/Western-Political-Science-Association
SPRINGER. 2003: 195–222
View details for Web of Science ID 000183789700002
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Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war
AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW
2003; 97 (1): 75-90
View details for Web of Science ID 000181293900006
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Selection effects and deterrence
INTERNATIONAL INTERACTIONS
2002; 28 (1): 5-29
View details for Web of Science ID 000176008100002
- Rationalism and Constructivism in International Relations Theory Rationalism and Constructivism in International Relations Theory Sage Publications . 2002
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Violence and the social construction of ethnic identity
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
2000; 54 (4): 845-877
View details for Web of Science ID 000165355600006
- Electoral Accountability and the Control of Politicians: Selecting Good Types versus Sanctioning Poor Perfor- mance Democracy, Accountability, and Repre-sentation edited by Manin, B., Przeworski, A. Cambridge University Press . 1999
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Bargaining, enforcement, and international cooperation
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
1998; 52 (2): 269-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000073722700002
- Deliberation as Discussion Deliberative Democracy edited by Elster, J. Cambridge University Press . 1998
- Commitment Problems and the Spread of Ethnic Conflict In The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict: Fear, Diffusion, and Escalation edited by Lake, D., Rothchild, D. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1998
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Domestic politics, foreign policy, and theories of international relations
ANNUAL REVIEW OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
1998; 1: 289-313
View details for Web of Science ID 000170829700014
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Signaling foreign policy interests - Tying hands versus sinking costs
JOURNAL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
1997; 41 (1): 68-90
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WD47600004
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Explaining interethnic cooperation
91st Annual Meeting of the American-Political-Science-Association
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS. 1996: 715–35
View details for Web of Science ID A1996VV28100002
- Counterfactuals and Causation in Social Science: Exploring an Analogy between Cellular Automata and Histor- ical Processe Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics edited by Tetlock, P., Belkin, A. Princeton University Press . 1996
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RATIONALIST EXPLANATIONS FOR WAR
89th Annual Meeting of the American-Political-Science-Association
MIT PRESS. 1995: 379–414
View details for Web of Science ID A1995RT52100001
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DOMESTIC POLITICAL AUDIENCES AND THE ESCALATION OF INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES
AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW
1994; 88 (3): 577-592
View details for Web of Science ID A1994PE20100004
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SIGNALING VERSUS THE BALANCE OF POWER AND INTERESTS - AN EMPIRICAL-TEST OF A CRISIS BARGAINING MODEL
JOURNAL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION
1994; 38 (2): 236-269
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NL06200004
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COUNTERFACTUALS AND HYPOTHESIS-TESTING IN POLITICAL-SCIENCE
1990 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOC
PRINCETON UNIV PRESS. 1991: 169–95
View details for Web of Science ID A1991EV50800001
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INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND ECONOMIC-POLICY REFORM IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
JOURNAL OF MODERN AFRICAN STUDIES
1988; 26 (1): 113-137
View details for Web of Science ID A1988N914400007