Ahsan I. Butt

Ahsan I. Butt
4400 University Drive
MSN 3F4
Fairfax, VA 22030
abutt4@gmu.edu
View Ahsan Butt's website
(703) 993-3184

EMPLOYMENT

George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government - 2018 – present
Assistant Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government - 2012 – 2018

Stimson Center, Washington, DC
Nonresident Fellow - 2018 – present

EDUCATION

University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Ph.D. in Political Science
2012

Dissertation title: “Goodbye or See You Later? Why States Fight Some Secessionists but not Others” Dissertation committee: John J. Mearsheimer (chair), Duncan Snidal, and Paul Staniland

Qualifying exams: International Relations (passed with honors); Comparative Politics

M.A. in Political Science
2008

Thesis: “Anarchy and Hierarchy: Explaining South America’s War-Prone Decade, 1932-1941”

Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
2006
B.A. in International Studies, summa cum laude

BOOK

2017. Secession and Security: Explaining State Strategy Against Separatists, Cornell University Press

• International Studies Association International Security Studies Section Best Book Award (2019)
• Reviewed in The Asian Age, Bloomsbury Pakistan, Choice Reviews, Dawn, International Affairs, Northeast Now, Open Magazine

JOURNAL ARTICLES

2019. “Why Did the United States Invade Iraq in 2003?” Security Studies 28(2): 250-285

• Reviewed in H-Diplo International Security Studies Forum

2018. “Pakistan’s Military Elite,” Journal of Strategic Studies doi: 10.1080/01402390.2018.1497487 (co-authored with Paul Staniland and Dann Naseemullah)

2017. “Why Do States Fight Some Secessionists But Not Others? The Role of External Security,” Journal of Global Security Studies 2(4): 324-345

2016. “Street Power: Friday Prayers, Islamist Protests, and Islamization in Pakistan,” Politics and Religion 9(1): 1-28

2015. “Do Nuclear Weapons Affect the Guns-Butter Tradeoff? Evidence on Nuclear Substitution from Pakistan and Beyond,” Conflict, Security, and Development 15(3): 229-257

2013. “Anarchy and Hierarchy in International Relations: Examining South America’s War-Prone Decade, 1932-1941,” International Organization 67(3): 575-607

EDITOR-REVIEWED SCHOLARSHIP

2019. “Article Review 108 on Aqil Shah, ‘Do U.S. Drone Strikes Cause Blowback? Evidence from Pakistan and Beyond.’” H-Diplo International Security Studies Forum (commissioned article review)

2014. “Fotini Christia, Alliance Formation in Civil Wars,” International Journal of Middle East Studies

46(1): 203-205 (commissioned book review)

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

• “The Lies That Bind Us: Constructing Nations and Nationalism in Schools” (book project)
• “China’s Construction of Hierarchy in the Global South” (working paper)
• “India as a Realist State” (working paper)
• “Fighting for God: Religious Nationalism and Conflict in International Relations” (working paper, co- authored with Burak Kadercan)
• “Adjudicating Like a State: Insurgency, Ideology, and Dispute Resolution” (working paper, co- authored with Asfandyar Mir)

OP-EDS AND POPULAR WRITING

2019

• “Kashmir: Beware the Street,” Open Magazine
• “India just pulled Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy. Here’s why that is a big deal for this contested region,” The Monkey Cage, Washington Post
• “Why did Bush go to war in Iraq?” Al-Jazeera

2018

• “The India-Pakistan diplomatic circus comes to town once again,” TRT World
• “Is Imran Khan an extremist?” Dawn
• “Why the Palestinians should focus on a one-state solution,” TRT World
• “What the Kulbhushan Jadhav Saga Reveals About India and Pakistan’s Balochistan Problems,” The Diplomat

2017

• “How intractable an issue is Kashmir?” Dawn
• “Looking Back at the Geopolitics Behind Pakistan’s ‘Genocide’ of 1971,” The Wire

2016

• “The Construction of a Chinese Hierarchic Order in the Global South,” Duck of Minerva
• “With Donald Trump as President, Muslims in America should be prepared for a rough ride,” The Maydan
• “Why Pakistan is obsessed with Kashmir,” Business Standard
• “For all of India's bluster, Pakistan still has every incentive to send militants across the border,” Scroll.in
• “Nationalistic Narratives in Pakistani Textbooks,” Peace Brief, United States Institute of Peace

2015

• “Guns and Butter in Pakistan,” Foreign Policy

2014

• “Don’t Expect to See Much Change in Pakistan,” Room for Debate, New York Times

2011

• “Pakistan’s real terrorism problem,” Foreign Policy
• “A meaningless aid cutoff,” Foreign Policy
• “Ownership of the war,” Dawn

2010

• “The grammar of politics in South Asia,” Foreign Policy
• “Justice as a public good,” Dawn
• “The ultimate measure of success in this war is the security of the Pakistani people,” Foreign Policy

2009

• “The most important sociopolitical trend in Pakistan in the last decade,” Foreign Policy
• “Strategy and war in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Foreign Policy
• “The most dysfunctional relationship in the world,” Foreign Policy
• “Four things to remember during the Waziristan war,” Foreign Policy
• “Bad journalism has big consequences,” Foreign Policy
• “Mr. Holbrooke, pick up the phone,” Foreign Policy

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

• International Studies Association International Security Studies Section Best Book Award: 2019
• Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies, George Mason University: 2016
• South and Central Asia Grant, United States Institute of Peace: 2015 – 2016
• Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School: 2014 – 2015
• Faculty Research Grant, Center for Global Studies, George Mason University: 2014 –2015
• Summer Research Funding Grant, George Mason University: 2014
• Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies, George Mason University: 2013
• International Security Pre-doctoral Fellowship, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School: 2011 – 2012
• Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Fellowship, United States Institute of Peace: 2011 – 2012
• Mellon Foundation Dissertation-Year Fellowship, Social Sciences Division, University of Chicago: 2010 – 2011
• Grodzins Prize Lectureship, Social Sciences Division, University of Chicago: 2010

PRESENTATIONS

Conferences (most recent only)

• Annual meeting of the International Studies Association: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016
• Annual meeting of the American Political Science Association: 2017, 2016, 2012, 2011
• Annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Nationalities: 2015
• Annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association: 2013, 2012, 2010

Talks

• International Studies Program, Ohio Wesleyan University - 2019
• Managing Intra-State Territorial Contestation Conference, University of Exeter - 2019
• International Security Center, Notre Dame University - 2018
• Wilson Center - 2018
• Cato Institute - 2018
• Security Workshop, Center for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania - 2018
• School of International Service, American University - 2018
• School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University - 2018
• Stimson Center - 2018
• Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University - 2018
• Roundtable on Separatist Conflicts, United States Institute of Peace - 2018
• Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, George Washington University - 2016
• International Security Program, Harvard Kennedy School - 2015, 2013, 2011
• Conflict, Security, and Public Policy Working Group, Harvard Kennedy School - 2015, 2012
• Managing the Atom Seminar, Harvard Kennedy School - 2015
• Panel on “Security concerns” at the Kashmir Conclave, Georgetown University - 2015
• Stanton Nuclear Security Fellows Seminar - 2014
• Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 2013
• Workshop for Research in Political Science, George Mason University - 2013
• Strategic Force Working Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 2013, 2011
• Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security, University of Chicago - 2013, 2008
• Department of International Relations, Lehigh University - 2013
• Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University - 2013
• Panel on U.S.-South Asia relations, RAND Corporation - 2012
• Peace Scholar Program, United States Institute of Peace - 2011
• Program on International Security Policy, University of Chicago - 2010
• Pakistan Conference, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) - 2010

TEACHING AND ADVISING

Instructor, George Mason University

• International Relations Theory (undergraduate) - x11, most recent Fall ’19
• International Relations (graduate) - x6, most recent Spring ’19
• Nationalism in World Politics (graduate) - x3, most recent Spring ’18
• Politics and Security in South Asia (graduate) - x3, most recent Spring ’19
• The Coercive State (graduate) - x1, most recent Fall ’19
• Politics and Security in South Asia (undergraduate) - x1, most recent Fall ’18
• International Security (graduate) - x1, most recent Fall ’17

Thesis Adviser, George Mason University

• PhD: Oren Litwin (2014), Erik Goepner (2018), Ben Fernandes, Benjamin Shearn, Erica Seng-White, Adam Bernbaum, Matt Campbell (chair), Hong Zhang, Courtney Kayser (chair)
• MA: Joe Dineen (2014), Charles Turner (2016), Jessica Ross (2018), Graham Scott (2018), Courtney Kayser (2018), Kevin Carpenter (2019)
• BA: Matthew Short (2014), Eric Gero (2016), Alia Jawad (2019)

Teaching Assistant, University of Chicago (Social Sciences Division)

• Strategy (Robert Pape), War and the Nation State (John Mearsheimer), American Grand Strategy (John Mearsheimer), Introduction to International Relations (Charles Lipson)

Teaching Assistant, University of Chicago (Harris School of Public Policy)

• Political Economy of Weakly Institutionalized Settings (Jon Pevehouse and Duncan Snidal), Political Economy of Public Policy (Ethan Bueno de Mesquita)

SERVICE

George Mason University (most recent only)

• Search committee, International Security: 2018 – 2019
• PhD qualifying exam committee, International Relations: 2018 – 2019, 2017 – 18
• PhD admissions committee, Political Science: 2018 – 2019
• Founder, coordinator of Workshop for Research in Political Science: 2013 – 2014, 2016 – 17
• Academic program review committee: 2016 – 2017
• Adviser, Minor in International Relations and Comparative Politics: 2016 – 2019

Manuscript reviewer

• American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Conflict Management and Peace Science, European Journal of International Relations, International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, Oxford University Press, Review of International Studies, Security Studies, World Politics

Panel discussant/chair (most recent only)

• Annual meeting of the International Studies Association: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016
• Annual meeting of the American Political Science Association: 2016, 2014
• Annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association: 2013, 2010
• Stimson Center Analytical workshop: 2019
• Complex Governance workshop: 2019
• Washington D.C. International Relations workshop: 2017
• Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security (University of Chicago)

Department of Political Science, University of Chicago

• Student representative on International Relations faculty search committee: 2009 – 2010
• Research assistant for Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism: 2008

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

•  Languages: Urdu/Hindi fluent; Spanish B1/B2 proficiency

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• American Political Science Association
• International Studies Association

REFERENCES

• John J. Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
  (j-mearsheimer@uchicago.edu)
• Vipin Narang, Associate Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (narangv@mit.edu)
• Duncan Snidal, Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford (duncan.snidal@politics.ox.ac.uk)
• Paul Staniland, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago (paul@uchicago.edu)