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Presidents cite many reasons to justify their decisions to use military force. Regardless of the explanation provided, putting soldiers in harm's way entails a high degree of risk. Some presidents are more willing than others to undertake risky policies, and psychological dispositions help to account for their willingness. According to evolutionary psychology theories of conflict, facial characteristics serve as important cues of aggression, and a substantial body of empirical evidence supports the association between the facial width-to-height ratio (FWHR) and conflict behavior. All else equal, individuals with greater FWHRs are more likely to choose aggressive foreign policies. Empirical analyses of 1953–2000 show that US presidents with higher FWHRs are four times more likely than those with lower FWHRs to use military force. The results hold independent of traditional explanations such as power, ongoing war, elections, the misery index, and alternative measures of leader psychology.

A relatively large body of research emphasizes the vital role of the tenure of leaders in explaining conflict behavior. In some accounts, new leaders are more likely to be attacked than their more seasoned counterparts. But are all new leaders equally susceptible to challenge? This research note argues that a key characteristic of leaders – whether or not they have combat experience prior to assuming office – influences their exposure to attacks from abroad. Analyses of dyadic interactions, 1900–2001, reveal that new leaders with combat experience are almost three times more likely to be targeted than leaders without a history of combat. Moreover, while time in office tends to increase the likelihood of conflict involvement generally, for leaders with combat experience, the risk of conflict declines across their tenure.

"Audience Costs, News Media, and Foreign Policy" published on by Oxford University Press.

This article explores the effect of acquiescing to compellent threats on the probability that a leader loses office and on the probability that he or she is targeted in a subsequent international crisis. Using a leader-specific punishment (LSP) model that corrects for the endogeneity between domestic and international politics, an analysis of over 9,000 observations during the period 1919-1999 suggests that backing down generally increases both the risk of becoming a target and the probability of losing office. Leaders who back down to coercive threats without a fight are almost twice as likely to become targets in subsequent crises and much more likely to lose office than those who do not. Democratic leaders are more at risk than their autocratic counterparts for loss of office and becoming targets if they acquiesce to coercive threats. (International Interactions (London)/ FUB)

This study explores the relative propensity of democratic and autocratic regimes to engage in diversionary behavior. Although previous research has focused on the willingness of leaders to engage in conflict, recent studies suggest an alternative explanation: the effect of strategic interaction opportunities. Previous studies suggest that even though democratic leaders may have an incentive to use foreign policy to manipulate domestic audiences, would-be adversaries limit their interaction opportunities. This article extends the analysis to a comparison of the behavior of democratic and autocratic regimes. Using three different indicators of the domestic political vulnerability of leaders—economic growth rates, protests, and rebellions—the results indicate that democratic leaders are apparently more affected by strategic interaction opportunities than their autocratic counterparts.

A discussion of architectural trends after postmodernism. Glitz consumed urban architecture on the East Coast of the US during the 1980s, & was representational of society at large, characterized by the emphasis on appearance & superficiality. The origin of glitz is traced, & subsequent architectural designs & designers are discussed. It is predicted that small-scale projects will begin to replace glitz during the 1990s. However, its legacy is an increased interest & cognizance of architecture nationwide. S. G. Yates