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Melissa
Willard-Foster is an assistant professor of political science at
the University of Vermont. Her research interests center broadly on the
causes
of international conflict. She is especially interested in
how domestic political pressures can cause policymakers to pursue
strategies that lead them
into conflicts they might wish to avoid. Her recent book, Toppling Foreign Governments,
explains
why
policymakers perpetually turn to regime change, despite its dubious
record of
success. In it, she argues that the very same conditions that can make
foreign
leaders difficult to coerce—their domestic political vulnerability—can
also
make them appear susceptible to overthrow. Her conclusions are
supported by data
on 133 cases
of foreign-imposed regime
change and 3 in-depth historical case studies, which
show that domestically weak leaders can appear more costly to coerce
than to overthrow.
Professor
Willard-Foster
holds degrees from the Georgetown
University School of Foreign Service, the University of Chicago, and
UCLA.
Before coming to UVM, she was an ISP fellow at the Harvard Kennedy
School's
Belfer
Center for Science & International Affairs. She teaches classes
on
international relations, international security, and foreign military
intervention