Biography

Alexander Thompson (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is Professor of Political Science and a Senior Fellow of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University.

Thompson has research interests in the area of international relations, with a particular emphasis on the politics of international organizations and law.  His book, Channels of Power: The UN Security Council and U.S. Statecraft in Iraq (Cornell University Press), explores why the United States sometimes channels its foreign policies through international organizations and other times acts alone.  Channels of Power has won two awards, the International Studies Association’s Chadwick Alger Prize and the J. David Singer Book Award from ISA-Midwest.

Thompson’s recent and ongoing projects focus on the evolution of the global climate change regime, the negotiation and design of international investment agreements, the politics of multilateral weapons inspections, the determinants of international organization performance, and the enforcement of international law. He also writes and speaks on the question of unilateralism versus multilateralism in U.S. foreign policy.  His articles have appeared in various journals, including International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Legal Studies, the European Journal of International Relations, the Review of International Organizations, Climatic Change, International Theory, and the Policy Studies Journal.

Thompson enjoys teaching and has been honored with the Political Science Department’s Outstanding Teaching Award and as a Finalist for the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award.  He has also served in various leadership roles at the university and the profession. Among other duties, he was an as Associate Editor for the journal Security Studies, served as his department’s Director of Graduate Studies, and co-directs the Globalization Workshop at Ohio State’s Mershon Center.

Thompson CV January 2024

More information on Professor Thompson's research

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