The Albritton Center for Grand Strategy (CGS) and the Bush School of Government and Public Service present Alexander Downes discussing his recent book, Catastrophic Success: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Goes Wrong (Cornell UP, 2021).
The event will be held on Thursday, January 26, in the 10th Floor Theater at Bush School DC, 1620 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Registration is required for the lecture, which begins at 5:30 PM ET.
Please register online to attend
About the Speaker
Alexander B. Downes (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 2004) is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and co-Director of the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at The George Washington University. Downes’s first book, Targeting Civilians in War, was published by Cornell University Press in 2008 and won the Joseph Lepgold Prize for the best book in international relations. His second book, Catastrophic Success: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Goes Wrong was published, also by Cornell, in November 2021. Downes has written on a variety of subjects in international security, including civilian victimization, foreign-imposed regime change, military effectiveness, democracy, coercion, alliances, and solutions to civil wars. His work can be found in journals like the British Journal of Political Science, Civil Wars, International Organization, International Security, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Strategic Studies, and Security Studies, as well as multiple edited volumes.
In 2016, Downes was named the winner of the inaugural Emerging Scholar Award and has held fellowships at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (2007/08) and Olin Institute for Strategic Studies (2002/03), and the Center for International Security and Cooperation (2003/04) at Stanford University. His work has been funded by the Department of Defense Minerva Initiative, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Eisenhower Institute, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, and Office of Naval Research. Downes teaches a variety of courses on IR and international security for undergraduates, M.A. students at the Elliott School, and Ph.D. students in Political Science. In recognition of his efforts in the classroom, Downes received the 2020 Harry Harding Teaching Prize from the Elliott School. Before joining the GW faculty, Downes was Assistant Professor of Political Science at Duke University from 2004-2011. He holds a B.A. in Music (magna cum laude) from Brown University and an M.A. in International Relations (with honors) from the University of Chicago.
