On Leave until July 1, 2024

• From 2011-2014 I was Senior Advisor to UBC President Stephen Toope
• I was Head of Political Science from 2019-22
• I am a UBC Killam Teaching Prize Recipient (2009)
• I am a coach for UBC Faculty and Staff through UBC Coaching Services

I specialize in International Relations. My research interests focus on the role of norms in world politics, particularly norms limiting warfare; constructivist international relations theory; normative international relations theory; the politics of international law; and ethics in world politics. My publications include the co-authored book (with Kathryn Sikkink) Moral Psychology, Neuroscience, and International Norms (Cambridge University Press), the co-authored Special Responsibilities: Global Problems and American Power (Cambridge University Press, 2012),  the edited Moral Limit and Possibility in World Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2008), The United Nations and Global Security (with Mark Zacher, co-editor, 2004), The Chemical Weapons Taboo (Cornell University Press, 1997), and numerous articles in International Organization, World Politics, International Security, European Journal of International Relations, and the Review of International Studies among others.

My teaching interests include courses on world politics, ethics in world politics, International Relations theory, and the development of professional and career skills for Political Science and International Relations undergraduate and graduate students.

Along with much help from UBC staff I created a new course, Political Science 395, Professional Skills in Political Science, that was offered for the first time in 2020 to help bridge the Political Science-Career skills gap and develop career skills for students to be more ready for a wide variety of job opportunities. This course brings Political Science and International Alumni back to UBC to facilitate workshops that provide current students with skills that those alumni wish they had gained during their UBC undergraduate degrees (but didn’t!) and that are in demand in their careers.

Books:

Richard Price and Kathryn Sikkink, Moral Psychology, Neuroscience, and International Norms. Cambridge University Press, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108966610

Special Responsibilities: Global Problems and American Power. Cambridge University Press, 2012. With Mlada Bukovansky, Ian Clark, Robyn Eckersley, and Nicholas Wheeler.

Moral Limit and Possibility in World Politics (editor). Cambridge University Press, 2008.

The United Nations and Global Security (with Mark Zacher, co-editor). Palgrave, 2004.

The Chemical Weapons Taboo. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997.

Selected journal articles and book chapters:

“How Chemical Weapons Became Taboo: And Why Syria Won’t Overturn the Aversion,” Foreign Affairs online, January 22, 2013. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2013-01-22/how-chemical-weapons-became-taboo

Adam Bower and Richard Price, “Moral Mission Accomplished? Assessing the Landmine Ban,” pp.131-170 in Eric Heinze (ed.), Justice, Sustainability and Security: Global Ethics in the 21th Century. New York: Palgrave MacMillan 2013.

“Introduction,” and “On the Pragmatic and Principled Limits and Possibilities of Dialogue,” Special Forum on Richard Price (ed.), Moral Limit and Possibility in World Politics, in International Theory, Vol.4, No.3, 2012, pp. 430-433, and pp.477-492.

“The Ethics of Constructivism,” in Duncan Snidal and Christian Reus-Smit (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of International Relations. Oxford University Press, 2008.

“Moral Limit and Possibility in World Politics,” International Organization 62:2 (Spring 2008), pp.191-220.

“Nuclear Weapons Don’t Kill People, Rogues Do,” International Politics, Vol.44, No.2-3 (March-May 2007), Special lssue on Crises of International Legitimacy, pp.232-249.

“How to Detect Ideas and Their Effects,” pp.252-265 in Charles Tilly and Robert E. Goodin, eds., Contextual Political Analysis (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

“Hegemony and Multilateralism,” International Journal, Vol.60, No.1 (Winter 2004-05), pp.109-130.

“From Politics to Law: Emerging Customary Norms and Anti-Personnel Landmines,” in Christian Reus-Smit, ed., The Politics of International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp.106-130.
“International Tribunals and the Criminalization of Violence,” with Joanne Lee, co-author, in Mark Zacher and Richard Price, The United Nations and Global Security, Mark Zacher and Richard Price (eds.), Palgrave, 2004.

“The United Nations Redux?” in Mark Zacher and Richard Price, The United Nations and Global Security, Mark Zacher and Richard Price (eds.), Palgrave-St. Martin’s Press (2004).

“Transnational Civil Society and Advocacy in World Politics,” World Politics 55:4 (July 2003), pp.579-606

Correspondence (“Isms and Schisms: Culturalism versus Realism in Security Studies”), International Security 24:1 (Summer 1999), pp.169-172.

“From War Fighting to Crime Fighting: Transforming the American National Security State,” International Studies Review 3:3 (Fall 2001), pp.31-52.

“Reversing the Gun Sights: Transnational Civil Society Targets Landmines,” International Organization 52:3 (Summer 1998), pp.613-644.

“Dangerous Liaisons? Constructivism and Critical International Theory” (with Christian Reus-Smit, co-author), European Journal of International Relations, 4:3 (September 1998), pp. 259-294.

“Compliance with International Norms and the Mines Taboo,” pp.340-363 in Maxwell Cameron, Brian Tomlin and Robert Lawson, eds. To Walk Without Fear: The Global Movement to Ban Landmines. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998.

“A Genealogy of the Chemical Weapons Taboo,” International Organization, 49:1 (1995), pp.73-104.

Selected media

“After Syria, Is There Still a Taboo Against the Use of Chemical Weapons?” Washington Post, April 7, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/04/07/after-syria-is-there-still-a-taboo-against-the-use-of-chemical-weapons/?utm_term=.a92c45933717

“Consequences of Assad’s Chemical Weapons Use in Syria, and the World,” ResearchGate, Interview by Maarten Rikken, September 23, 2016.

“The Good Debate,” ISQ Blog, “The Third Debate 25 Years Later,” March 20, 2014 http://www.isanet.org/Publications/ISQ/Posts/tabid/1770/ID/297/The-Third-Debate-25-Years-Later.aspx

“Why do chemical weapons carry a special moral stigma?”, The American Legion. http://www.legion.org/magazine/218112/worlds-red-line January 1, 2014

“The Chemical Weapon Taboo.” CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Audio/ID/2406448455/ September 15, 2013.

“Chemical weapons: How we build a taboo.” The Boston Globe. http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2013/09/08/chemical-weapons-how-built-taboo/4LmSkZpbXgLDpVYpKBOnwJ/story.html September 8, 2013.

“Why do chemical weapons evoke such a strong reaction?” National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=218995964 September 4, 2013.

“They must be really bad if even Hitler wouldn’t use them.” The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/03/they-must-be-really-bad-if-even-hitler-wouldnt-use-them/ September 3, 2013.

“The history of chemical weapons: The shadow of Ypres.” The Economist.
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21584397-how-whole-class-weaponry-came-be-seen-indecent-shadow-ypres August 31, 2013.

“Why are chemical weapons the ‘red line’ for Syria?”
CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-are-chemical-weapons-the-red-line-for-syria/ August 27, 2013.

“Taboo or Not Taboo” Duck of Minerva, http://www.whiteoliphaunt.com/duckofminerva/2013/10/taboo-or-not-taboo-2.html, October 7, 2013

University of Minnesota, Arthur “Red” Motley Exemplary Teaching Award (Most Outstanding Teacher in the College of Liberal Arts), 2000

University of British Columbia, Killam Teaching Prize, 2008-09

Teaching Evaluations

I make my teaching evaluations available; to view them, login here and search for my name.

Ph.D. Supervisions

Current

Val Muzik. Val’s Ph.D. research explores the implications of computation for governance.

Sadia Tasleem (Interdisciplinary Studies, Co-Supervised with M.V. Ramana, SPPGA): Sadia’s Ph.D. research examines how Pakistan has normalized its nuclear deterrent.

Eunsil Choi: Eunsil’s research interests include the politics of international law and norms, the role & legitimacy of international organizations and informal regimes, and the fragmentation of the rules of world order.

Completed

Alicia Luedke. Ph.D. dissertation, Negotiating Gender in Crisis: Global Norms and State Power in South Sudan, was successfully defended in October 2023. Alicia is a conflict advisor with the International Organization for Migration and author of numerous human rights research reports.

Lilit Klein. Lilit’s Ph.D. dissertation, Moral lntuition and lnternational Order: On Change, Progress and Threat, was successfully defended in August 2023.

Kaleigh Heard. Ph.D. dissertation, The Price of a Life: The Confluence of Justice, Strategy and Legitimacy in Collateral Damage Compensation, was successfully defended in July 2023. Kaleigh has worked for the Department of National Defence, and is Lecturer in Political Science at University College London.

Will Plowright. Ph.D. dissertation, Armed Groups, Child Soldiers and the Pursuit of Legitimacy defended 2018 and published as a book Armed Groups and International Legitimacy Child Soldiers in Intra-State Conflict by Routledge in 2021. Will was a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Amsterdam, has worked n the management of humanitarian operations around the world, and is currently Assistant Professor, Durham University.

Chris Tenove (entered program January 2009), Trudeau Fellow. Ph.D. dissertation, Justice and Inclusion in Global Politics: Victim Representation and the International Criminal Court (Mark Warren, Co-Supervisor). Chris is currently Director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC.

Elise Leclerc Gagne (entering class of 2007): Ph.D. dissertation, The construction of the humanitarian worker as inviolate actor, defended 2014. After graduation Elise became a delegate with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and she is now Commissioner with the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Adam Bower (entering class of 2006): SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship Recipient and Simons Foundation / DFAIT Graduate Research Award in Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control (2008). Ph.D. Dissertation: Norm Development Without the Great Powers? Assessing the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court successfully defended Dec.7, 2012, published as a book Norms Without the Great Powers by Oxford University Press in 2017. After winning a Max Weber Post-Doctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy, Adam completed a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Oxford University. Adam is Senior Lecturer, School of International Relations, University of St. Andrews.

Daisaku Higashi (entering class of 2006). University Graduate Fellowship Recipient (2006-07), Killam Predoctoral Fellowship recipient (2009-10), and Toyota Foundation Research Grant for field research in Afghanistan and East Timor (2008). Ph.D. Dissertation: The Challenges of Constructing Legitimacy in Peacebuilding successfully examined July 26, 2012 and published as a book by Routledge in 2015. Daisaku is Professor, Sophia University in Tokyo.

Michael Cohen (entering class of 2006). Thurlow Scholarship in Peace and Disarmament Studies recipient, and recipient of Simons Foundation / DFAIT Graduate Research Award in Disarmament, Non-Prolilferation and Arms Control (2008) and University Graduate Fellowships (2008-10). Ph.D. Dissertation, Nuclear Proliferation and the Use of Force: Nuclear Coercion and Nuclear Learning was successfully examined in April 2012 . Michael is Senior Lecturer, Crawford School of Public Policy / National Security College, at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.

Alana Tiemessen (entering class of 2003). Ph.D. Dissertation: “The International Normative Structure of Transitional Justice.” Successfully defended July 2011. University Graduate Fellowship and Canadian Consortium on Human Security Fellowship recipient. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago; Alana is Associate Professor of Security Studies, Endicott College.

Nicolas Dragojlovic (entering class of 2004). Ph.D. Dissertation: “The Psychology of Persuasion in Global Politics: Global Image, Source Cues, and US Soft Power.” Successfully defended September 16, 2010. University Graduate Fellowship recipient (2004-07), winner of Li Tze Fong Memorial Fellowship (2007-08), and SDF Post-Doctoral Fellow, Liu Institute, UBC. Currently Research Associate, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia.

Nevin Aiken (entering class of 2004). Ph.D. Dissertation: Overcoming Intractability: Identity and Intergroup Reconciliation in Transitional Justice was successfully defended July 28, 2010 and became a book with Routledge Press in 2013. Nevin is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wyoming.

Scott Watson (entering class of 2001). Ph.D. Dissertation: “The Securitisation of Humanitarian Migration” defended July 2006 and published as a book by Routledge in 2009. Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Victoria.

Karen Winzoski (entering class of 2001). Ph.D. Dissertation: “The Influence of Industry and Scientific Communities on US Chemical and Biological Weapons Policy” defended April 2007. Karen has been an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Brandon University.

Radoslav Dimitrov (University of Minnesota, Ph.D.). Rado is Professor of Political Science at  Simon Fraser University after being a faculty member at Western University for 17 years.

Ph.D. Committee Member

Current

Completed

Joshua Weiner. Dissertation Running a Rebellion: Essays on Armed Group Behavior, was successfully defended in January 2024. Josh is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Netherlands.

Gregor Sharp. Dissertation The Politics of the Unknown: Theorising Exploration in International Relations, successfully examined in 2021. Gregor worked as a Senior Research Associate and Manager for the Angus Reid Institute, and is currently Academic Director of the Phil Lind Initiative at the School for Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC.

Julia Palmiano Federer University of Basel. Ph.D. Dissertation on peace mediators as norm diffusers successfully defended in 2019. Julia is now Head of Research at the Ottawa Dialogue located at the University of Ottawa.

Mohamed Al Mehairbi, Ph.D. dissertation successfully defended 2018.

Demola Okeowo, Ph.D. in Law, dissertation successfully defended 2017.

Jan Luedert (Entering Class of 2009), Ph.D. dissertation defended 2016. Jan is Visiting Research Scholar at the Graduate Center, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, and Associate Professor &- Director Center for Curriculum & Instruction, City University of New York.

James Baker.(Entering class of 2008). Ph.D. dissertation, “International Order in the Oceans: Territoriality, Security, and the Political Construction of National and International Jurisdiction at Sea.”

Kristi Kenyon. (Entering class of 2006). Kristi is Assistant Professor at Global College, University of Winnipeg.

Jonathan Tomm (Entering class of 2007): Ph.D. dissertation, “Morally Generative Politics: The Emergence of Normative Relations out of Political Conflict.”

Phil Orchard. Phil is Professor of International Relations, University of Wollongong, Australia.

David Seekings (Entering class of 2004). Ph.D. Dissertation, “Caring About Aid: An Ethics of Care Approach to Global Health Aid.” Successfully defended December 14, 2010. David has a position with the Government of New Brunswick.

Justin Nankivell (Entering class of 2004): Ph.D. Dissertation, “Arctic Legal Tides: The Politics of International Law in the Northwest Passage” successfully defended June 22, 2010. Justin teaches at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies.

Philippe Bourbeau. Philippe’s revised dissertation is published as a book, Securitization of Migration: A Study of Movement and Order, by Routledge Press. Philippe is Canada Research Chair in Immigration and Security at Laval University.

Post-Doctoral Fellow Supervisions

2011-12

Scott Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. University of Calgary. SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow. Research interests include culture and norms of warfare and private military contractors. Currently Associate Professor in International Relations in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Limerick, Ireland

2006-07

Veronica Kitchen, Ph.D., Brown University 2006. SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow. Research interests include the role of identity in security communities. Veronica is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo.

Jonathan Havercroft, Ph.D., University of Minnesota 2005. Center of International Relations Security and Defence Forum Post-Doctoral Fellow. Research interests include indigenous self-determination and global sovereignty norms, and developing norms regarding weaponization of space and space security. Jonathan is Professor in International Political Theory within Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton, UK.

Karthika Sasikumar, Ph.D., Cornell University 2006. Simons Center Post-Doctoral Fellow. Research interests include Indian nuclear policy and security policy. Karthika is Professor in the Department of Political Science at San Jose State University.

Visiting Students

Elvira Rosert, PhD Student, Research Associate
and Lecturer at Goethe University Frankfurt and at Peace
Research Institute Frankfurt. Research interests include the unintended effects of international norms, in particular those related to humanitarian disarmament and International Humanitarian Law.

MA Supervisions

Current

Completed

Parmida Esmaeilpour. M.A. Thesis, “Disciplining Deviant States: The Creation of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies”

Nazira Kozhanova, M.A. Thesis, “Applicatory Contestations, Norm Bolstering, and Norm Erosion,” successfully examined April 2019. Nazira writes for The Astana Times and The Diplomat on Kazakh politics and society.

Thea Waldron, M.A. Thesis, “Gender Based Violence and Non-State Armed Groups: The Case of Boko Haram,” successfully examined January 2019. Thea began Law School in Sydney, Australia in 2019.

Nicole Esligar, “Increasing Compliance with the Norm Against Child Soldiery: A Case for the Adoption of Localization Theory,” successfully defended 2017.

Elizabeth Good, MA Thesis, “Strengthening the Norm Against Torture: An Alternative Look at Implications of US Norm Violation,” successfully examined August 2016. Elizabeth is in the Ph.D. program at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Zosia Hortsing. “Roma Refugees: International Refugee Protection and Europe’s ‘Internal Outsiders.’” Successfully defended August 2010. Zosia is currently a manager in the International Partnerships and Programs Branch of the Provincial Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation (Trade and Investment Division).

Ryder McKeown. “Norm Regress: American Revisionism and the Slow Death of the Torture Norm.” Defended June 7, 2007. A revised version of this thesis has been published in the scholarly journal International Relations, 23:1 (2009), pp.5-25. Ryder is a Policy Officer in the Department of Defence in Ottawa and also doing his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto.

Daisaku Higashi, “The Battle of the Peace-building Norm After the Iraq War” Defended July 2006. Daisaku entered our Ph.D. program in September 2006 (see above).

Michael Cohen, “Nuclear weapons and the 1991 Gulf War: Nuclear Taboo or Risk Aversion?” Successfully defended August 2006. Michael entered our Ph.D. program in September 2006 (see above).

Azur Stankovic, “Enforcing Justice: The influence of norms on the efficacy of International criminal tribunals.” September 2005.

Jeremy Brock, “What Kind of Peace Do We Seek? Military Interventions in the Post-Cold War Era, 1999-2004.” 2004.

Luisa Navas, “Antipersonnel Mines in Colombia: Engaging Non-State actors through Norm Compliance and Construction.” August, 2004. Currently employed in Bogota as Advisor to the Vice Minister of Defence for Strategy and Planning, Ministry of Defense, Government of Columbia.

Nicolas Dragojlovic, “Structural Change and Human Rights Norms.” August 2004. Nick entered our Ph.D. program in September 2005.

Miriam Anderson, “Explaining the International Community’s Insistence on Real Property Restitution in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia 1995-2003: Exploring Normative Foundations,” 2003. Miriam entered the Ph.D. program at Cambridge University in 2004. She is currently Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Michael Schroeder, “Getting the ‘Right’ Agreement: How Norms Influence The Behaviour of International Mediators.” July 2004. Michael entered the Ph.D. program in Political Science at George Washington University in 2004. Michael teaches at American University in Washington D.C.

Kevin Warrian, US Biological Warfare Policy, August 2003.

Undergraduate Supervisions

Gwendolyn Culver, Resiliency Dynamics of Norm Clusters in the Law of the Sea, Honours Thesis 2020-21

Charmaine Lee, media coverage of Rakhine conflict in Myanmar, Honours Thesis, 2019-20