Director, International Studies Program, Palmatier Endowed Professor of Political Science
Email:
Phone:
(616) 632-2840
Office:
H 219
Biography
Recent Activity:
- Presentation, “North Korea, Trump, and Escalating Tensions,”Panel on North Korea, Aquinas College, Tuesday, January 30, 2018;
- Presentation, OLLI Class, “Vigilantes,” Team-Taught with Dr. Deb Wickering, January 3, 10, and 17, 2018
- Presentation, OLLI Class, “Trump Foreign Policy,” September 20, 27, and October 4, 2017;
- Moderator, “German Elections Panel,” September 19, 2017, Aquinas College, with a) Fredrick Hoffman, Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in the State of Michigan, b) Dr. Gunther Hega, Associate Professor, Western Michigan University, and c) Christian Jetzlsberger, Deputy Head of the Political Department of the German Embassy, Wash., DC.
- Presentation, “KKK as a Terrorist Organization,” Panel on the Alt-Right, Aquinas College, September 19, 2017;
- Presentation, OLLI Class, “Six Years of Overt War: Syria, Human Rights and Political Stability,” January 11, 2017;
- President, Michigan Political Science Association, 2015-2016;
- Presentation, International Protection of Human Rights: R2P in the 21st Century, 2016 Aquinas College Faculty Lecture Series, November 1, 2016;
- TV Interview, “Presidential Election 2016,” WZZM, Grand Rapids, MI, November 9, 2016;
- Presentation, “Brexit: Implications for European and International Relations, Michigan Political Science Association Conference, Central Michigan University, Thursday, October 20, 2016;
- Presentation, “Just War and Responsibility to Protect: An Application to ISIL,” Dominican Colloquium, June 10, 2016;
- Presentation, “North Korea in the International System,” Panel on North Korea, Aquinas College, Thursday, March 24, 2016;
- Participant, AQ Lightning Talks, “Syria and Just War,” with Ms Amelia Kimbro, Aquinas College, March 17, 2016;
- Presentation, “Just War Theory in the 21st Century” World War II Lecture Series, Silversides Museum, Muskegon, MI, March 14, 2016;
- Moderator, “COP-21 Paris: An Analysis of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference,” Aquinas College, February 25, 2016;
- Presentation, “Responsibility to Protect in the World in Crisis,” Rotary East, Watermark Country Club, Grand Rapids, January 19, 2016;
Research Interests
Publication of “Expanding the Scope of Policy Leadership through Networks: Grand Rapids, Michigan,” chapter 9 in the text "The Facilitative Leader in City Hall: Reexamining the Scope and Contributions," James H. Svara, Editor, Arizona State University, CRC Press, 2009. Co-Authored with Eric S. Zeemering, Ph.D., San Francisco State University.
- International Relations
- Counter-Terror Politics in the broader context of American foreign policy;
- Just War Theory, especially applied to U.S. Foreign Policy;
- Post-Cold War relations between the North and South particularly how strong states intervene (and at what level) crisis situations in weak states;
- Post Cold War Crisis Situations;
- International political economy, international regimes, development and dependency: South (third world) political economy - particularly linking international regimes with dependency structures and measuring levels of dependent relationships, multilateralism and transnational activity;
- International Human Rights and US Foreign Policy.
- Comparative Politics
- Haitian Political Economy and the overthrow of Aristide
- Caribbean development processes and why some "islands" have "done better" than others
- At the macro level is the issue of development and trying to measure it both quantitatively and qualitatively
- In a comparative public policy sense I have been looking at nationalism as a primary force that motivates in this Post-Cold War era
- American Politics
- Domestic political economy and industrial policies
- Inequality and participation, power and democracy
- Theories of the state
- US Foreign Policy and the above.
Dissertation Topic
"Post Cold War Relations Between the North and South: Studying the Effects of International Regimes on Less Developed Countries", G. Zaninovich (chair), P. Southwell, G. Fry and A. Hawkins.
Other Political Science Discipline Activity
- Reviewer for Prentice-Hall
- Reviewer for Westview Press
- Member: American Political Science Association, International Studies Association, World Affairs Council of West Michigan, United Nations Association, Michigan Conference of Political Scientists
- Reviewer for Rourke Text
- Reviewer for Pine Forge Press
Favorite Links
Education
- Ph.D., University of Oregon
- M.A., University of Oregon
- B.S., Southern Oregon State College
