He received his Ph.D. in political science from Ohio State University and previously worked at Purdue University, Griffith University, and Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. His research centers on security studies and the international relations of East Asia. He is the author of The Supply Side of Security: A Market Theory of Military Alliances(Stanford University Press, 2016). In addition, he has published on topics such as military entanglement, U.S.-South Korea alliance, U.S.-Japan alliance, maritime disputes, the role of leaders in intra-alliance bargaining, nuclear non-proliferation, middle-powers, China’s rise, and political effects of demographics.