Jesse Driscoll
School of Global Policy and Strategy
University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr.
La Jolla, CA, 92093. Work Phone: 858-534-7616
personal homepage: https://jesse-driscoll.squarespace.com/
email: jdriscoll “at” ucsd “dot” edu
Education
2009

PhD in Political Science, Stanford University

2001

MA in Security Studies, Georgetown University

2001

BS in Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Interests

Post-Soviet Eurasia. Intra- and Interstate Security. State-Building. Coup-Prooﬁng.
Academic Positions
2024-Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego (GPS)2017-24

Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego (GPS)2010-17

Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego (GPS/IRPS)
Scholarship

Books
Ukraine’s Unnamed War: Before the Russian Invasion of 2022, (with D. Arel), Cambridge
University Press, 2023.
Doing Global Fieldwork: A Social Scientist’s Guide to Mixed-Methods Research Far
From Home, Columbia University Press, 2021.
Warlords & Coalition Politics in Post-Soviet States, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics, 2015.
HonorsCentral Eurasian Studies Society (Best Book In The Social Sciences, 2015-2016)
Furniss Book Award from the Mershon Center for International Security Studies (2017)

1

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles“Side-Switching as State-Building: The Case of Russian-Speaking Militias in EasternUkraine” (with A. Chinchilla), Studies in Conﬂict & Terrorism December 2021.
“Poverty and Economic Dislocation Reduce Compliance with COVID-19 Shelter-inPlace Protocols” (with A. Wright, K. Sonin, and J. Wilson), Journal of Economic Behavior& Organization, December 2020, Vol. 180, 544-554.
“Social Media And Russian Territorial Irredentism: Some Facts and A Conjecture” (withZ. Steinert-Threlkeld), Post-Soviet Aﬀairs, Winter 2020, Vol. 36, Issue 2, 101-121.
“Calling Mogadishu: How Reminders of Anarchy Bias Survey Participation” (with E.
Denny), Journal of Experimental Political Science, Fall 2018, Vol. 57, Issue 1, 30–48.
“Spies Like Us” (with C. Schuster), Ethnography, September 2018, Vol. 19, Issue 3, 411430.
“With Friends Like These: Brinkmanship and Chain-Ganging in Russia’s Near-Abroad”(with D. Maliniak), Security Studies, September 2016, Vol. 25, No. 4, 585-607.
“Did Georgian Voters Desire Military Escalation in 2008? Experiments & Observations” (with D. Maliniak), Journal of Politics, January 2016, Vol. 78, No. 1, 265-280.
“Language Hierarchies in Georgia: An Experimental Approach” (with T. Blauvelt andC. Berglund), Caucasus Survey, February 2016, Vol. 4, Issue 1, 44-62.
“Representative Surveys in Insecure Environments: A Case Study of Mogadishu, Somalia” (with N. Lidow), Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1, 78-95.
“Intended and Unintended Consequences of Democracy Promotion Assistance to Georgia After The Rose Revolution” (with D. Hidalgo), Research and Politics, April-June 2014,
Vol. 1, No. 1, 1-13.
“Commitment Problems or Bidding Wars?: Rebel Fragmentation as Peace-Building”
Journal of Conﬂict Resolution, February 2012, Vol. 56, No. 1, 118-149.
Chapters in Edited Volumes“Beyond ’Bluffing’: The Weaponization of Uncertainty in Russia’s War Against Ukraine,”(with N. Savelyeva), in A. Shesterininia and Miriam Matejova eds, Uncertainty in GlobalPolitics. Routledge. 2023.
“Matched-Guise Reloaded: Revising A Classic Experiment for Complex Multi-LingualSettings,” (with T. Blauvelt and C. Berglund), in G. Liu and J. Drzewieniecki (eds) Russian Studies, Political Science, and the Philosophy of Technology, Lexington Press, 2022.
2

“Being Watched and Being Handled,” in B. Bliesmann de Guevara and Morten Boas
Doing Fieldwork in Areas of International Intervention, Bristol University Press, 2020.
“Hobbesian Neopatrimonialism,” in M. Laurelle Tajikistan on the Move: Statebuilding andSocietal Transformations, Lexington Press, 2018.
“Consolidating A Weak State After Civil War: A Tajik Fable” in J. Heathershaw andE. Schatz Paradox of Power: Logics of State Weakness in Eurasia, University of PittsburghPress, 2017.
“Prison States & Games of Chicken” in S. Desposato, Ethics and Experiments: Problems
and Solutions for Social Scientists and Policy Professionals, 2015, Taylor and Francis.
Book Reviews & Commentary
Mobilizing in Uncertainty: Collective Identities and War in Abkhazia by Anastasia
Shesterinina, Ethnopolitics, May 2022, https://doi.org/10.1080/17449057.2022.2063480.
Multiparty Mediation in Violent Conﬂict: Peacemaking Diplomacy in the Tajikistan
Civil War by Tetsuro Iji, Russian Review, Vol. 79, no. 4, October 2020.
Rivalry and Revenge: The Politics of Violence During Civil War by Laia Balcells, Nationalities Papers, 48, no. 3, July 2020.
Qazaqlïq, or Ambitious Brigandage, and the Formation of the Qazaqs: State and Identity
in Post-Mongol Eurasia by Joo-Yup Lee, Inner Asia, Vol. 21, 2019.
The Origins of the Civil War in Tajikistan: Nationalism, Islamism, and Violent Conﬂict
in Post-Soviet Space by Tim Epkanhans, Civil Wars, Vol. 20, No. 3, Summer 2018.
Russia’s Far East by Ruesselaer Lee & Artyom Lukin, Russian Review, Vol. 75, No. 3,
July 2016.
Warlords: Strong-Arm Brokers in Weak States by Kimberly Marten, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 128, No 2, Summer 2013.
AuthorResponseEssays

Author-Critic Roundtables in Central Asian Aﬀairs with Bernard Finel, Alexander Kupatadze, and Kimberly Marten (Fall 2016), and Caucasus Survey with Tim Blauvelt, SuzanneLevi-Sanchez, Jennifer Murtazashvili, and Anastasia Shesterinina (Spring 2018).
Works In Progress, Under Review, Or That I Might Get Back To Someday“Ethnic Stacking in the Russian Armed Forces?”, with C. Berglund and D. Sichinava.

3

“The Minsk Game”, with D. Arel (solicited by Public Choice for a special issue)“The Voice of Hatred”, with N. Saveleva
How The Georgia Lobby Charmed Washington (book project w. D. Maliniak)“Institutions, Oil Spots, and Relational State Capacity in Mogadishu”, with M. Seese“Rebel Anti-Air Capability As A Measure Of Civil War Conventionalization”“Seeing Like A Subaltern: State-Building, Census Taking, & The Political Economy ofPopulation Counts” with S. Naidu
Professional Memberships

American Political Science Association (life member)
Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies (life member)
Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia)
Association for the Study of Nationalities
Central Eurasian Studies Society
Select Grants & Recognitions
2021-222016
2014-162013-15
2011-12
2009-2013

Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs FellowshipStudent Veterans Resource Center Recognition: “Best Professor For Military Students”
Academic Mentorship/Teaching Award, UCSD Security Studies GroupUCSD Hellman Fellow
NSF RAPID SES-1216070: Service Provision and Security in Mogadishu, Somalia
Academy Fellow, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies
Service & Teaching20142019-

Faculty Chair of the Global Leadership InstituteCommittee on Equity and Diversity (Core Team since returning to campus 2023)
Courses Taught

202320232018-2021
2010-2021
2013201020132010-2012

Ukraine: Nation-Building and State-Building After The Russian Invasion
Graduate Research Seminar on Eurasian Security
Counterterrorism & Counterinsurgency
Critical Debates in U.S. National Security Policy
Humanitarian Interventions
Modeling State Capacity (Formerly Titled “State-Building”)
Capstone: 21st Century Security Issues
Nongovernmental Organizations (no longer taught)
4

Ph.D. Dissertation Committees (Only Successful Defenses Listed)
Michael Seese, Political Science (2023, Co-Chair), Lecturer, San Diego State University
John Porten, Political Science (2023), Research Manager, Joan P. Croc School (USD)
Adam Fefer, Political Science (2023), Weiser Center Fellow, University of Michigan
Zachary Breig (2017), Economics, School of Economics at the University of Queensland
David Lindsey (2016), Political Science, Baruch College (CUNY)Will Hobbs (2016), Political Science, Cornell University
Kara Downey (2015), Political Science (at Stanford University), Bay Area Private Sector
Blake McMahon (2015), Political Science, the U.S. Air Force Research Institute
Cameron Brown (2014), Political Science, AIPAC (in Jerusalem)
Christopher Fariss (2013), Political Science, University of Michigan
Tiffany Chou (2011), Economics, U.S. Department of Treasury
UCSD Senior Honors Thesis Advisees (Only Successful Honors Grantees Listed)
Yuki Narouka (2016)
Mairelise Robinson (2015)
Peer Reviewer
American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Caucasus Survey,
Central Asian Survey, Central Asian Aﬀairs, Comparative Political Studies, Conﬂict Management and Peace Sciences, Economics and Politics, European Journal of International Relations,
European Research Council, Freedom House, HURI, IO (International Organization), International Security, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Comparative Politics, Journalof Conﬂict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Politics, National Science Foundation, Nationalities Papers, Nations and Nationalism, Perspectives on Politics, Politics and Religion, Political Science Quarterly, Post-Soviet Aﬀairs, Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences, Security Studies, Russian Review, Slavic Studies, World Politics
Ukraine Policy Work & Non-Peer Reviewed Policy Outreach (w/ Hyperlinks)

Joint Staff Planning Division (J-5, Europe/NATO/Russia) Jan-Dec 2022. Desk officer
for Georgia and Ukraine. Two-time recipient of Joint Staff Civilian Service Medal.
Online Resources: Voice of America (2.27.2024, 2.12.2024) IGCC Talking Policy, 2.19.2024;
Mershon Center, 1.11.2024; IGCC “War Before The War”-Cast, 4.14.2023; UCSD withPeter Gourevitch, 4.5.2023; Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, 3.8.2023; PeaceSciences, 3.2.2023; Northwestern University, with Mike Kofman and IWI, 11.10.2022;
PONARS “Civil War” Memo, 2.16.2019; “Ukraine’s Civil War” at the Mershon Center
9.13.2017; Danyliw Research Seminar on Contemporary Ukraine (University of Ottawa):
2014 (+ Interview); 2015; 2016 (+ Q & A Session); 2022 Book Launch w/ D. Arel
— Last updated: March 6, 20245