Research
My research examines the relationship between international order and state behavior: how the structures of order constrain and enable state choices, and how states perceive, navigate, and reshape those structures.
Book Project
The Networked Limits of Coercion: How Peers Shape Alignment in Great-Power Competition
Why does great-power pressure produce rapid compliance in some cases, delay or hesitation in others, and resistance in still others? My book project argues that alignment under great-power competition is shaped not only by pressure from major powers, but also by the peer networks surrounding target states. These networks influence how states interpret coercive pressure, whether alignment becomes politically defensible, and whether states can coordinate alternatives to compliance. The book examines these dynamics across contemporary and historical cases of strategic alignment and great-power competition.
Publications
Xiong, Haoming, David A. Peterson, and Bear F. Braumoeller. "Reconceptualizing International Order: Contemporary Chinese Theories and Their Contributions to Global IR." International Organization (2024), 78 (3), 538-574.
Beek, Maël van, Michael Z. Lopate, Andrew Goodhart, David A. Peterson, Jared Edgerton, Haoming Xiong, Maryum Alam, Leyla Tiglay, Daniel Kent, and Bear F. Braumoeller. "Hierarchy and war." American Journal of Political Science (2025), 69 (1), 299–313.
Under Review
"Hierarchy Misalignment and War: Relational and Material Power Disparities Among States" (with Jared Edgerton, Dagmar Heintze, and Maël van Beek). Conditional Acceptance.
This paper develops a theory of hierarchy misalignment, arguing that states are more likely to initiate conflict when their material capabilities exceed their relational influence in the international system, and that greater system-wide misalignment increases international instability.
"Teeth and Templates: Peer Influence and Alignment Timing in Great-Power Competition"
This paper argues that alignment timing under great-power competition is shaped by peer influence, but institutional order conditions how much peers' prior moves matter.
"The Continuity and Evolution of Chinese Leaders' Views of International Order" (with Liuya Zhang and Bear Braumoeller)
Using natural language processing to analyze Chinese leadership discourse over time, this paper examines whether and how Chinese leaders' conceptions of international order have converged with or diverged from each other.
Selected Working Papers
"Networked Diplomacy: Leader Visits and US-China Competition" (with Jing Luo and Alexander Thompson)
"Bad Governments, Good Citizens? Regime Type and Foreign Attitudes." (with Frederick Chen)
"Under Pressure: Preference Promotion as a Form of International Order" (with David Peterson)
"Network Spillover: Global Value Chains, Economic Security and the Emergence of Defense Cooperation Agreements" (with Phuong Pham)