Erik Gartzke

Associate Professor
Political Science
University of California, San Diego

Contact Information:

9500 Gilman Dr. #0521
La Jolla, CA 92093-0521

OFFICE: 327 SSB
TEL: 858 534 8211
FAX: 858 534 7130

EMAIL: egartzke < at > ucsd < dot > edu

Curriculum Vitae

My primary area of study involves the impact of information and institutions on war and peace. Students of international relations are increasingly aware that what leaders and others know or believe is a key determinant of how nations behave and interact. States operate in a minimally hierarchical environment in which negotiations and bargaining are the primary form of political interaction. The study of international conflict then becomes the study of bargaining failures among nations and other groups.

I apply bargaining theory, rational choice institutional theory and statistical anlysis to three main substantive areas of interest:

Liberal peace: Democracies are less prone to fight each other, though they are about as disputatious in general. Explanations for this "democratic peace" have lagged the empirical evidence. I argue that prosperity (economic development) and capitalism (free markets) better account for peace among developed liberal states, as force is expensive and uninformative in some contexts.

International institutions: Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have proliferated in response to growing globalization. These organizations have very limited capabilities and are most likely to function by forging commitments and revealing information.

Diplomacy: International relations is primarily carried out through diplomacy, yet strangely modern scholarship has all but ignored this subject. If war is a bargaining failure, then understanding how nations cooperate and compete diplomatically is essential to understanding war and peace. I am interested in how nations apply the limited strategic tools of diplomacy for stability or gain.

My research has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Reivew, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, World Politics, and elsewhere. I am currently working on a book on how prosperity and free markets create the basis for amicable politics within (i.e. democracy) and between nations (interstate peace).