Thomas Ambrosio

Thomas Ambrosio is an associate professor of political science in the Criminal Justice and Political Science Department at North Dakota State University where he teaches courses in international relations, international law, and ethnic conflicts. In 2007, he was awarded the NDSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Outstanding Research Award and the Distinguished Educator's Award from the NDSU chapter of the Blue Key National Honor Society.

Ambrosio received his Ph.D. in foreign affairs in 2000 from the University of Virginia.

He has published extensively on the relationship between ethnic groups and nation states, examining such topics as: attempts by states to annex the territory of other states where their co-nationals reside (Irredentism); the status of nations in international law; the role played by organized ethnic interest groups in the formulation of governmental foreign policy; the role that political opportunity structures limit nationalist expression; and, how Russia's conception of itself affects its relationship with the United States and its perceived role in the unipolar international system.

He has most recently completed a book project entitled "Authoritarian Backlash: Russian Resistance to Democratization in the Former Soviet Union" which examines five strategies that an increasingly authoritarian Russia has adopted to preserve the Kremlin's political power: insulate, bolster, subvert, redefine and coordinate. Each strategy seeks to counter or undermine regional democratic trends both at home and throughout the former Soviet Union. Policies such as these are of great concern to the growing literature on how autocratic regimes are becoming more active in their resistance to democracy. Through detailed case studies of each strategy, this book makes significant contributions to our understandings of Russian domestic and foreign policies, democratization theory, and the policy challenges associated with democracy promotion.

He intends to extend this line of research with an eye toward developing a theory of authoritarian diffusion.

Selected Bibliography

"Books"
* Authoritarian Backlash: Russian Resistance to Democratization in the Former Soviet Union (forthcoming) ISBN 0-7546-7350-2 (available from amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/Authoritarian-Backlash-Resistance-Democratization-Post-Soviet/dp/0754673502/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220973208&sr=1-5] )
* Challenging America's Global Preeminence: Russia's Quest for Multipolarity. 2005 ISBN 0-7546-4289-5 (available from amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/Challenging-Americas-Global-Preeminence-Multipolarity/dp/0754642895/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220973208&sr=1-6] )
* Ethnic Identity Groups and U.S. Foreign Policy. (as editor and contributor) 2002. ISBN 0-275-97532-0 (available from amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-Identity-Groups-Foreign-Policy/dp/0275975320/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220973208&sr=1-4] )
* International Law and the Rise of Nations: The State System and the Challenge of Ethnic Groups. (as co-editor, with Robert J. Beck, and contributor) 2001. ISBN 1-889119-30-X (available from amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/International-Law-Rise-Nations-Challenge/dp/188911930X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220973208&sr=1-1] )
* Irredentism: Ethnic Conflict and International Politics. 2000. ISBN 0-275-97260-7 (available from amazon.com [http://www.amazon.com/Irredentism-Ethnic-Conflict-International-Politics/dp/0275972607/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220973208&sr=1-2] )

"Articles"

* “Catching the ‘Shanghai Spirit’: How the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Promotes Authoritarian Norms in Central Asia,” Europe-Asia Studies (forthcoming).

* "The Kurdistan Referendum Movement: Political Opportunity Structures and National Identity," Democratization (forthcoming), with Azad Berweri.

* "Insulating Russia from a Colour Revolution: How the Kremlin Resists Regional Democratic Trends," Democratization, v.14, no.2 (April 2007): 232-252.

* “The Political Success of Russia-Belarus Relations: Insulating Minsk from a ‘Color’ Revolution,” Demokratizatsiya, v.14, no.3 (Summer 2006): 407-434.

* "Major Power Balancing under Conditions of Unipolarity: The Role of Non-Material Values,” Contemporary Security Policy, v.27, no.2 (August 2006): 258-281.

* “The Geopolitics of Demographic Decay: HIV/AIDS and Russia's Great Power Status,” Post-Soviet Affairs, v.22, no.1 (January 2006): 1-23.

* “Trying Saddam Hussein: Teaching International Law Through an Undergraduate Mock Trial,” International Studies Perspectives v.7, no.2 (May 2006): 159-171.

* “The Russo-American Dispute over the Invasion of Iraq: International Status and the Role of Positional Goods,” Europe-Asia Studies v.57, no.8 (December 2005): 1189-1210.

* “The Third Side? The Multipolar Strategic Triangle and the Sino-Indian Rapprochement,” Comparative Strategy v.24, no.5 (December 2005): 397-414.

* “Bringing Ethnic Conflict into the Classroom: A Student-Centered Simulation of Multiethnic Politics,” PS: Political Science and Politics v.37, no.2 (April 2004): 285-9.

* “From Balancer to Ally? Russo-American Relations in the Wake of September 11th,” Contemporary Security Policy v.24, no.2 (August 2003): 1-28.

* “Congressional Perceptions of Ethnic Cleansing: Reactions to the Nagorno-Karabagh War and the Influence of Ethnic Interest Groups,” Review of International Affairs v.2, no.1 (Autumn 2002): 24-45.

* “Russia's Quest for Multipolarity: A Response to U.S. Hegemony,” European Security v.10, no.1 (2001): 45-67.

* “The Geopolitics of Slavic Union: Russia, Belarus, and Multipolarity,” Geopolitics v.4, no.3 (2000): 73-90.

See also

* Ethnic interest group
* Ethnic interest groups in the United States

External links

* [http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/ambrosio/cv.html Thomas Ambrosio's "Curriculum Vitae"]