I am a professor of international relations and analyst of international security issues. I received my PhD from the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California. My research interests lie at the nexus of international relations as an academic study and the policy world (the "bridging the gap" issue). I'm most interested in international security and foreign policy analysis, particularly U.S. foreign and security policy in the Middle East. Currently I am writing a book that explores how the United States deals with its adversaries. Tangential to the questions I attempt to answer in this book are issues of when states use incentives versus sanctions to achieve favorable foreign policy outcomes. Previously I worked as an analyst at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies researching issues related to ballistic missile proliferation and nuclear technology transfers.