05/14/13

Well, some of you may want to know who I am and what makes me tick.  So, here it is:

I was a military brat and preacher's kid.  Following in the vein of my grandfather and father, I spent time in the U.S. Air Force (my grandfather was U.S. Army Air Corps), which gave me the opportunity to travel the U.S. and the world.  I have been on every continent except Antartica (I hear it is really cold there, so I am not sure I care to visit anyway).  After the USAF, I returned to school and earned a BA in Political Science at Arkansas State University (always an Indian--don't know who these Red Wolves are).  Deciding that school was a lot easier than working for a living, I determined to stay in school as long as possible and eventually earned a PhD.  Of course, this means that I get to stay in school forever.

Along the way, in Lubbock, TX I met Vicki, my lovely wife.  The great thing is that Vicki tolerates me.  The best thing is that she is a great mother to my boys.  Probably need a new family pick here as the boys are now older, but then again given the predators of the world, I think I will not change the picture.

I am politically and theologically conservative.  Not a Republican--they quit being conservative years ago.  In my research and work I fall somewhere between realist and constructivist.  But, I am always a logical positivist and believe that only through the empirical processing of information we can make statements about causality and reality.  I am also an anomaly among political scientists--I don't really like party politics, I don't watch CNN (Clinton News Network), C-Span, or even FoxNews (If you have to tell me you are unbiased, you are not unbiased).  I care about people and what motivates people to armed aggression against one another.  I care about finding ways to alleviate conflict.  The best way I have found yet to alleviate conflict is for government to simply leave most people alone.  My research has focused on ethnic conflict and civil wars for the last several years.  I focus primarily on understanding these conflicts in the greater context of foreign policy and international relations of SE Asia and China, and Sub-Sahran Africa.  I am author and co-author of numerous conference papers focusing on these issues, as well as authoring/co-authoring published journal articles on ethnic conclict, human rights, and even legislative accountability (sometimes being a jack of all trades is not too bad).  I have authored one book on environmental scarcities and ethnic conflict and have begun research for my next project on Chinese foreign policy, aid and investment in Africa, and the relation of this aid and investment on ethnic rivalries in Sub-Sahran Africa.  Ya'll can thank Ross Marlay, Charles Hartwig, and Stephen Saideman for making me such a confused academic.  

I enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, guns, good cigars, good food, fruit of the field and vine, and ALABAMA FOOTBALL. ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!