His research interests include international politics, foreign policy, defense policy, public opinion, terrorism and counterterrorism, democratization, economic history, post-Communism, musical theater, and dance history. Among his books are Chasing Ghosts: The Policing of Terrorism (with Mark G. Stewart). New York: Oxford University Press, 2016; War, Presidents, and Public Opinion; Retreat From Doomsday: The Obsolescence of Major War; Policy and Opinion in the Gulf War; Astaire Dancing; Quiet Cataclysm: Reflections on the Recent Transformation of World Politics; Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery; The Remnants of War (awarded the Joseph Lepgold Prize for the best book on international relations in 2004); Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them; Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda; (with Mark Stewart) Terror, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Costs, and Benefits of Homeland Security; (ed.)Terrorism since 9/11: The American Cases;War and Ideas: Selected Essays. He has published articles in such journals as American Political Science Review, International Security, American Journal of Political Science, Foreign Affairs, Political Science Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Reason, National Interest, and New Republic, as well as op-ed pieces in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Playboy, and Los Angeles Times.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has been a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, and has received the International Studies Association’s Susan Strange Award as well as several teaching awards.