Chad E. Nelson
752 SWKT, Provo, UT 84602
310-903-7163 • cenelson@ucla.edu
www.nelsonchad.com
ACADEMIC POSITION
Visiting Assistant Professor, Brigham Young University, 2014-2016
EDUCATION
University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D., Political Science, June 2014
Field: International Relations
Subfield: Comparative Politics
Columbia University, New York, NY
M.A., Political Science, 2002
Fields: International Relations, Comparative Politics
Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
B.A., Philosophy, 2000
Minors: Political Science, International Development
DISSERTATION/BOOK PROJECT
Revolutionary Waves: The International Effects of Threatened Domestic Order
Committee: Arthur Stein (chair), Michael Mann (Sociology), Marc Trachtenberg, Robert Trager
When do leaders fear the domestic repercussions of revolutions abroad, and how does the
prospect of such revolutionary waves affect international affairs? I examine how revolutionary
states can act as platforms and models in spreading a new regime type in the international
system, and how other states respond to that possibility. I argue that fear of contagion is mostly
a product of the characteristics of the host country rather than the infecting agent and that this
factor leads to patterns of cooperation and conflict not otherwise explained by existing
international relations theories. The argument is tested through detailed qualitative analysis of
the response to revolution in the four dominant ideological revolutionary movements of the last
two hundred years: liberalism from the American Revolution to the Congress period,
communism and fascism during interwar Europe, and political Islam and Middle East
international relations, before and after the Iranian Revolution. The answers to the questions
above address not only the issue of the international effects of revolutions, but also the larger
issues of when, why, and to what extent ideological differences between states matter in
international relations and how domestic instability interacts with international politics.
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PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
“The Attenuation of Revolutionary Foreign Policy” (with Arthur Stein). International Politics
52:5 (2015), pp. 626-636.
WORKS UNDER REVIEW
“The Evolution of Norms: American Policy toward Revolution in Iran and Egypt.”
• Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Human Rights
“Revolution and War: Saddam’s Decision to Invade Iran.”
“‘My Foresight does not Embrace Such Remote Fears’: Time Horizons and the Response to the
Rise of the United States.”
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“War, Revolution, and the Transformation of European Politics.”
• Presenting at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Atlanta, March
2016.
“Structural Theories and the Iranian Revolution”
• Presenting at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Atlanta, March
2016.
“The Great Power Response to the American Civil War in Context”
• Presenting at a workshop on “The American Civil War and International Relations” at the
Annual Meeting of the Peace Science Society, Oxford, Mississippi, November 2015.
“Revolutionary Waves: The International Effects of Threatened Domestic Order.”
• Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San
Francisco, September 2015.
• Presented at the York Symposium, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, November
2013.
“The Evolution of Norms: American Policy toward Revolution in Iran and Egypt.”
• Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, New Orleans,
February 2015.
• Poster at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San
Francisco, September 2015.
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“‘My Foresight does not Embrace Such Remote Fears’: Britain, France, and the Rise of
American Hegemony.”
• Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Toronto, March
2014.
“Revolution and War: Saddam’s Decision to Invade Iran.”
• Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association West, Pasadena,
September 2013.
• Presented as panel, “War Initiation and Termination: Insights from Captured Iraqi
Records” at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco,
April 2013.
“Revolutionary Contagion and International Politics: The Ancien Régime and the Concert of
Europe Compared.”
• Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco,
April 2013.
“Demonstration Effects and the American Revolution.”
• Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago,
April 2012.
FELLOWSHIPS
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Herbert F. York Global Dissertation Fellowship, Institute on Global Conflict and
Cooperation, 2013-2014
Collegium of University Teaching Fellowship, UCLA, 2012-2013
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Visiting Assistant Professor, Brigham Young University, 2014-2016
• International Conflict
• Research Seminar on Revolutions and International Politics
• National Security Affairs
Collegium of University Teaching Fellow, University of California Los Angeles, 2012-13
• Revolutions and International Politics
Visiting Faculty, Brigham Young University, 2010
• International Relations of the Middle East
• Capstone Seminar in International Security
Teaching Fellow/Associate/Assistant, University of California Los Angeles
• Great Powers in the Middle East – Instructor: Steven Spiegel (2006-2012)
• Introduction to Global Studies – Instructor: Russell Burgos (2011)
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Globalization: Concepts and History – Instructors: Russell Burgos, David Rigby,
Dominic Thomas (2011)
Diplomacy and War – Instructor: Robert Trager (2009)
Constitutional Rights and Liberties – Instructor: Karen Orren (2006-2008)
International Relations Theory – Instructor: Arthur Stein (2006-2007)
TEACHING INTERESTS
International Relations Theory; American Foreign Policy; Causes and International
Consequences of Revolutions; International Relations of the Middle East; International Conflict;
Change in the International System; Domestic Causes of Peace and War; Rise and Fall of Great
Powers; International Organizations; War, the State and Society; Qualitative Methods;
Revolutions in the Middle East
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
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Maxwell School, Syracuse University: Summer Institute for Qualitative and MultiMethod Research, 2012
Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California: Public Policy and
Nuclear Threats summer course, 2007
University of Washington: Intensive Persian Language Program, 2002
REFERENCES
Professor Arthur Stein
Department of Political Science
University of California Los Angeles
310-825-1173
stein@polisci.ucla.edu
Professor Steven L. Spiegel
Department of Political Science
University of California Los Angeles
310-825-1276
spiegel@polisci.ucla.edu
Associate Professor Robert Trager
Department of Political Science
University of California Los Angeles
310-825-0778
rtrager@ucla.edu
Professor Marc Trachtenberg
Department of Political Science
University of California Los Angeles
310-267-1904
trachten@polisci.ucla.edu
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