I am a historian of the 20th- and 21st-century United States. My research focuses on the US national security state and on how different concepts of national security have shaped the United States and the country’s relationship with the world. My first book, The Contest over National Security: FDR, Conservatives, and the Struggle to Claim the Most Powerful Phrase in American Politics, explores how the meaning of national security changed over time, from Franklin Roosevelt’s broad concept that encompassed economic and physical security to the narrower, physical security-focused concept familiar to us today. Through its attention to the framing, volume, and repetition of political messaging, the book sheds new light on why the United States ended up with a national security state responsible only for physical security, with economic security relegated to a separate “welfare state”—with consequences for American political development that continue to reverberate.
In addition to my historical work, I also have active research and writing projects focused on national security policymaking. I am particularly interested in exploring ways to improve national security decision-making, drawing on the insights of cognitive psychology and other related fields.
I love to teach. It’s why I left my career working in national security and foreign policy in the U.S. government and joined the faculty at the University of Utah.