Shawn L. Ramirez

I received my Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 2013, was a College Fellow at Harvard University’s Government Department and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs from 2011-2013, and have been an assistant professor at Emory University since 2013.

Curriculum Vitae PDF

Contact me at veryslr at gmail dot com, or visit my Linked In.

Bio

I am a political scientist specializing in advanced quantitative methodology, econometrics, and game theory. I aim for impactful theory and data-driven insights using a variety of tools. I am interested in opportunities to take on complex challenges and provide solutions in a collaborative, fast-paced, and goal-oriented environment.

Research

How mediators can be more effective with secrecy and agenda-setting

Mediators lock in concessions and reduce uncertainty. Mediation can make conflicts better or worse.
Ramirez, Shawn L. "Mediation in the Shadow of an Audience: How Third Parties Use Secrecy and Agenda-Setting To Broker Settlements." Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2017. (PDF, Appendix)

Revealing hidden terrorist motives with observable attack behavior

The classification scheme at work. Only three groups (top-right) consistently target the West with propaganda-generating suicide attacks. A majority of affiliates are launching civil campaigns against their home state governments (left). This shows the similarity between GSPC and AQIM in attacking the state and relying on kidnapping tactics over time.
Ramirez, Shawn L., and Arianna J. Robbins. "Targets and Tactics: Testing For A Duality Within Al Qaeda's Network." International Interactions, 2017. (PDF, Appendix)

Spatial and Temporal Patterns in the Isreali-Palestinian Conflict

Identifying hierarchies in terrorist networks with minimal information

Mutual influence sets in the 9/11 hijacker network. 9/11 terrorist hierachy identified with our measure of influence.
Brams, Steven J., Hande Mutlu, and Shawn Ling Ramirez. "Influence in Terrorist Networks: From Undirected to Directed Graphs." Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 29.7 (2006): 703-718. (PDF)

Book

Strategic Delegates in War: The Political Use of Mediators and their Impact on Peace. Manuscript in progress.

Under Review

Secrecy and War: `Open Covenants of Peace, Secretly Arrived At’.

Power Sharing and Ethnic Conflict: The Effect of Discretized Political Goods on Exclusion and War, with Hyesung Kim.

The Strategic Determinants of Terror Financing, with Cole Margol.

Domestic Power Sharing and War: How Clarity of Responsibility Affects Conflict.

Working Papers

Audience Costs: A Model and Survey Experiment, with KiYoung Chang.

Public Concerns for National Reputation: Can Audience Costs Allow for Deception?

Limited Wars and Border Disputes: The Effect of Domestic Policy Options on Diversionary War.


Additional

I advised and directed research as faculty for the Empirical Implications of Theory and Methods at UC Berkeley (2013), Duke (2014), and the University of Michigan (2015), the Institute for Quantitative Theory and Methods, the Center for the Study of Law, Politics and Economics, and the Scholarly Inquiry and Research program at Emory.

I advise the undergraduate Emory Journal of International Affairs, and the Emory Globe, a student organization focused on global news.


International Diplomacy Project

I am collecting data using student-powered simulations to explore how multilateral negotiations and diplomacy works. The simulations have been run annually since 2013, and has expanded to include participants from Georgia Tech, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Agnes Scott, and Kennesaw State University.

As a research endeavor, I designed the project to use real world data, new technology to track participants (RFID tokens), and social media to track dialogue. This research takes the first step in identifying the value of face-time, secrecy, mediation, and bilateral talks in simulating diplomacy.

Additional resources can be found here: Project Website.


Teaching