Scholars@Duke
Kyle Beardsley

Kyle Beardsley

Professor of Political Science
Political Science
kyle.beardsley@duke.edu
204H Gross Hall, Box 90204, Durham, NC 27708
140 Science Dr, 204H Gross Hall, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Publications

The grass is always greener on the other side: Transnational ethnic inequality and ethno-nationalist conflict

Journal Article Journal of Peace Research · December 1, 2025 Featured Publication Existing research has shown that horizontal inequalities arising from comparisons between ethnic groups can promote ethno-nationalist conflict. However, these studies have largely focused on comparison between groups within the same country. In this articl ... Full text Cite

Postures and Portents

Chapter · June 27, 2025 Full text Cite

What Have We Learned?

Chapter · June 27, 2025 Full text Cite

Understanding Near Crises and Escalation in World Politics: A Mixed Methods Approach

Book · January 1, 2025 This book introduces the near crisis phase of conflict and escalation. These time-sensitive disputes between states, and even with violent non-state actors, do not involve significant risk of military escalation, at least in the moment. Investigating how a ... Full text Cite

The Coevolution of Networks of Interstate Support, Interstate Threat, and Civil War

Journal Article Journal of Politics · October 1, 2024 Featured Publication Interstate and intrastate conflicts are nested in broader networks of rivalry and cooperation and can be modeled as such. An intergroup security dilemma logic points to trade-offs states face as they cultivate “support groups”—receiving security assistance ... Full text Cite

Great power politics and the dynamics of capability: the prevention of near-crisis escalation

Chapter · January 1, 2024 How do changes in military capability among the great powers affect conflict processes? The authors argue that this relationship should be evaluated at a lower point in the conflict escalation cycle by focusing on near-crisis events. They develop propositi ... Full text Cite

Can peace operations mitigate the effect of armed conflict on malnutrition? Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire

Journal Article Environment and Security · September 2023 Featured Publication Armed conflict increases food insecurity leading to malnutrition especially in women, but can peace operations mitigate the increased prevalence of malnutrition in conflict zones? This study uses women’s nutrition outcomes—key indicators of societ ... Full text Cite

Tipping Points: Challenges in Analyzing International Crisis Escalation

Journal Article International Studies Review · September 1, 2022 Featured Publication Why do some near crises tip over into full-blown crisis and others do not? This paper considers existing scholarship and identifies four key barriers to using quantitative analysis for tipping-point analyses: strategic indeterminacy; the incentives for con ... Full text Cite

Policing Ethnicity: Lab-in-the-Field Evidence on Discrimination, Cooperation, and Ethnic Balancing in the Liberian National Police

Journal Article Quarterly Journal of Political Science · April 28, 2022 Featured Publication Ethnic balancing in the security sector increasingly accompanies power sharing agreements after civil war, but new challenges arise as these institutions must sustain cooperation amidst increasing ethnic heterogeneity. Inclusive involvement in security sec ... Full text Cite

The United Nations After 75: Assessing Current Understandings, Charting Fruitful Research Agendas

Journal Article International Peacekeeping · January 1, 2022 From its capacity for deploying joint operations in conflict zones to its status as a standard-bearing forum for international behaviour, the United Nations has asserted its relevance in a diverse array of issues and conflicts around the world. Equally as ... Full text Open Access Cite

Once and Future Peacemakers: Continuity of Third-party Involvement in Civil War Peace Processes

Journal Article International Peacekeeping · January 1, 2021 Despite the importance of having continuity in third-party involvement, many third parties lack the ability to commit as long-term peace guarantors. We argue that non-state actors and third parties with vested interests in peace and stability will be more ... Full text Cite

Clarifying the mediation dilemma: A response to “Sticks and carrots for peace”

Journal Article Research and Politics · January 1, 2021 This brief essay considers the “mediation dilemma” in the light of new analysis by Constantin Ruhe and Iris Volg. Ruhe and Volg’s analysis adds to our understanding of manipulative mediation in two important ways: (a) it demonstrates how an analysis that u ... Full text Cite

Ethnic and gender hierarchies in the crucible of war

Journal Article International Studies Quarterly · September 1, 2020 Featured Publication Recent scholarship shows war can catalyze reforms related to gender power imbalances, but what about reforms related to ethnic inequalities? While war can disrupt the political, social and economic institutions at the root of ethnic hierarchy-just as it ca ... Full text Cite

Hierarchy and the provision of order in international politics

Journal Article Journal of Politics · April 1, 2020 Featured Publication The anarchic international system is actually heavily structured: Communities of states join together for common benefit; strong states form hierarchical relationships with weak states to enforce order and achieve preferred outcomes. Breaking from prior re ... Full text Cite

Mediation, Peacekeeping, and the Severity of Civil War

Journal Article Journal of Conflict Resolution · August 1, 2019 One of the proposed benefits of third-party involvement that has been offered to justify its use is that it helps reduce the severity of conflict. Existing work finding that peacekeeping operations reduce battle-related fatalities considers peacekeeping in ... Full text Cite

Conflict, Peace, and the Evolution of Women's Empowerment

Journal Article International Organization · March 1, 2019 Featured Publication How do periods of conflict and peace shape women's empowerment around the world? While existing studies have demonstrated that gender inequalities contribute to the propensity for armed conflict, we consider how the anticipation and realization of armed co ... Full text Cite

Research Handbook On Mediating International Crises

Book · January 1, 2019 Current conceptions of mediation can often fail to capture the complexity and intricacy of modern conflicts. This Research Handbook addresses this problem by presenting the leading expert opinions on international mediation, examining how international med ... Full text Cite

Introduction to Research Handbook on Mediating International Crises

Chapter · January 1, 2019 This Research Handbook brings together a number of perspectives on the practice of mediation in the international system. A diversity of origins and a wide array of actors typify conflicts and crises today. The widespread availability of lethal weapons at ... Full text Cite

Concluding themes and policy recommendations

Chapter · January 1, 2019 In this concluding chapter, we pull together the main findings of each of the chapters and group them so as to capture both the central scholarly themes of the Research Handbook and those insights that we believe will be of particular relevance to the poli ... Full text Cite

The United Nations Security Council and conflict prevention in self-determination disputes

Chapter · January 1, 2019 There is a great deal of scholarship on the UN's response to violent crises, but less is known about the UN's ability to prevent violence from erupting in the first place. Does the UN respond to potential intrastate crises to prevent civil war and are thes ... Full text Cite

Mediating complex crises

Chapter · January 1, 2019 This chapter focuses on mediation in the midst of an evolving international system and the ways in which the practice of mediation has changed and could stand to change more in order to increase its effectiveness in managing and resolving crises. Increasin ... Full text Cite

International gender balancing reforms in postconflict countries: Lab-in-the-field evidence from the Liberian national police

Journal Article International Studies Quarterly · September 1, 2018 In the aftermath of civil conflict, war-torn states often require reform of their government institutions. Gender balancing, or the inclusion of more women in security-sector institutions, is an increasingly common reform incorporated into state-building p ... Full text Cite

Where, when, and how does the UN work to prevent civil war in self-determination disputes?

Journal Article Journal of Peace Research · May 1, 2018 The UN has placed rhetorical emphasis on the prevention of armed conflict before it starts and has taken selective action toward that end. What determines where the UN gets involved? We examine UN preventive actions by focusing on UN Security Council (UNSC ... Full text Cite

Resolving Civil Wars before They Start: The un Security Council and Conflict Prevention in Self-Determination Disputes

Journal Article British Journal of Political Science · July 1, 2017 Featured Publication A large literature has demonstrated that international action can promote the resolution of civil wars. However, international actors do not wait until violence starts to seek to manage conflicts. This article considers the ways in which the United Nations ... Full text Cite

Equal Opportunity Peacekeeping Women, Peace, and Security in Post-Conflict States

Book · February 1, 2017 Featured Publication Karim and Beardsley also identify and examine how increasing the representation of women in peacekeeping forces, and even more importantly through enhancing a more holistic value for "equal opportunity," can enable peacekeeping operations ... ... Cite

Explaining sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping missions: The role of female peacekeepers and gender equality in contributing countries

Journal Article Journal of Peace Research · January 1, 2016 Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) is an endemic problem in UN peacekeeping missions. It is not only a gross human rights violation, but also threatens to challenge the legitimacy of the peacekeeping mission and undermines the promotion of gender equality ... Full text Cite

Roving Bandits? The Geographical Evolution of African Armed Conflicts

Journal Article International Studies Quarterly · September 1, 2015 Featured Publication The fighting in some civil wars primarily takes place in a few stable locations, while the fighting in others moves substantially. We posit that rebel groups that do not primarily fight for a specific ethnic group, that receive outside military assistance, ... Full text Cite

Peacekeeping as conflict containment

Journal Article International Studies Review · March 1, 2015 A rich literature has developed focusing on the efficacy of peacekeeping operations (PKOs) in a temporal sense - asking whether the periods following a deployment are more peaceful or not. We know less about the efficacy of PKOs in a spatial sense. Can pea ... Full text Cite

Third-Party Conflict Management and the Willingness to Make Concessions

Journal Article Journal of Conflict Resolution · January 1, 2014 Featured Publication Third-party conflict management, particularly legal dispute resolution (arbitration and adjudication) and mediation, can help improve the willingness of disputants to make asymmetric concessions by ameliorating commitment problems and providing political c ... Full text Cite

Female Peacekeepers and Gender Balancing: Token Gestures or Informed Policymaking?

Journal Article International Interactions · September 9, 2013 Since the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 (2000), which is referenced in most of the mandates for peacekeeping authorizations and renewals as of its adoption, UN peacekeeping forces have begun a process of gender balancing. While we ... Full text Cite

The UN at the peacemaking-peacebuilding nexus

Journal Article Conflict Management and Peace Science · September 1, 2013 The UN Security Council (UNSC) confronts at least three challenges in translating its actions during armed conflict into more durable peace after conflict. First, heavy-handed interventions such as military deployments and sanctions can impede the ability ... Full text Cite

Democratic Communities and Third-Party Conflict Management

Journal Article Conflict Management and Peace Science · February 1, 2013 We explore how the domestic political institutions of states in the neighborhood of international disputants affect the incentives for third-party conflict management. Existing scholarship has argued that as the number of democracies in the international s ... Full text Cite

Using the Right Tool for the Job: Mediator Leverage and Conflict Resolution

Journal Article Penn State Journal of Law and International Affairs · 2013 Cite

UN intervention and the duration of international crises

Journal Article Journal of Peace Research · March 1, 2012 This article examines the effect of UN actions on the duration of international crises. Four different types of action - assurance, diplomatic engagement, military involvement, and intimidation - and three different outcomes - compromise, victory, and stal ... Full text Cite

Following the Flag or Following the Charter? Examining the Determinants of UN Involvement in International Crises, 1945-2002

Journal Article International Studies Quarterly · March 1, 2012 Featured Publication This paper compares the explanatory power of two models of UN intervention behavior: (i) an "organizational mission model" built around the proposition that variations in the amount of resources that the UN devotes to different conflicts primarily reflect ... Full text Cite

Peacekeeping and the contagion of armed conflict

Journal Article Journal of Politics · October 1, 2011 Featured Publication Existing scholarship has characterized the severity of and mechanisms behind the problem of conflict contagion but not how to address it. Although studies of peacekeeping have demonstrated that it can prevent conflict recurrence, we know little about wheth ... Full text Cite

The Mediation Dilemma

Book · 2011 Featured Publication Cite

Pain, pressure and political cover: Explaining mediation incidence

Journal Article Journal of Peace Research · July 1, 2010 Featured Publication This article explores the effect of domestic and international politics on the choice of mediation as a conflict management strategy in international crises. Existing work has yet to fully explore how domestic and international audiences shape the combatan ... Full text Cite

Rebel groups as predatory organizations: The political effects of the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka

Journal Article Journal of Conflict Resolution · August 1, 2009 Featured Publication In this article we propose a new typology for insurgent groups to explain why in such remarkably similar conflicts-Sri Lanka and Aceh-the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was so different. We argue that two principal factors shape all rebel groups b ... Full text Cite

Intervention without leverage: Explaining the prevalence of weak mediators

Journal Article International Interactions · July 1, 2009 Existing research on international mediation emphasizes the importance of leverage in altering the combatants' ability to reach a negotiated settlement. Less understood is the role of third parties that do not have access to sources of leverage even though ... Full text Cite

Nuclear weapons as shields

Journal Article Conflict Management and Peace Science · July 1, 2009 Featured Publication What security benefits do nuclear weapons provide to their possessors? After accounting for two potential selection effects, the empirical evidence from all international crises from 1945 to 2000 indicates that opponents of nuclear-weapon states demonstrat ... Full text Cite

Winning with the bomb

Journal Article Journal of Conflict Resolution · April 1, 2009 Featured Publication Nuclear weapons' effects on an actor's success in coercive diplomacy are in part a function of how nuclear weapons change the perceived costs of conflict. The authors argue that states can improve their allotment of a good or convince an opponent to back d ... Full text Cite

Atoms for Peace, Redux: Energy Codependency for Sustained Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula

Journal Article Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy · January 9, 2009 Full text Cite

Agreement without peace? International mediation and time inconsistency problems

Journal Article American Journal of Political Science · October 1, 2008 Featured Publication Mediation has competing short- and long-term effects. In the short run, the actors are better able to identify and settle on a mutually satisfying outcome. In the long run, mediation can create artificial incentives that, as the mediator's influence wanes ... Full text Cite

Proliferation and international crisis behavior

Journal Article Journal of Peace Research · March 1, 2007 The literature on international conflict is divided on the impact of nuclear proliferation on state conflict. The optimists' argument contends that nuclear weapons raise the stakes so high that states are unlikely to go to war when nuclear weapons enter th ... Full text Cite

Mediation style and crisis outcomes

Journal Article Journal of Conflict Resolution · February 1, 2006 Featured Publication This study focuses on the varying effectiveness of three mediation styles - facilitation, formulation, and manipulation - on international crises. Effectiveness is assessed in terms of three outcome variables: formal agreement, post-crisis tension reductio ... Full text Cite

Nosy neighbors: Third-party actors in Central American conflicts

Journal Article Journal of Conflict Resolution · June 1, 2004 Scholars argue that third parties make rational calculations and intervene to influence interstate dispute outcomes in favor of their own objectives. Third parties affect not only conflict outcomes but also escalation and duration. Theories of third-party ... Full text Cite

Distance Traveled to Treatment and Client Retention

Journal Article Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment · 2003 Full text Cite

Dopaminergic behaviors and signal transduction mediated through adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C pathways.

Journal Article Neuropharmacology · January 2000 We determined the relative effects of chemical receptor inactivation on dopaminergic signaling through adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C pathways and evaluated the behavioral implications of such receptor manipulations. Groups of rats were given intrap ... Full text Cite

Women in Peacemaking/Peacekeeping

Chapter Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the study of foreign affairs and political interaction between states. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. ... Link to item Cite