James D Kim
Biographic Data
| ID | 4380451 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James D Kim |
| GIVEN NAMES | James D |
| FAMILY NAME | Kim |
| SIGNATURE | KIM J D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Texas A&M University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1412-1132 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
High-Level Leader Visits
Once deemed a “nearly impossible” area of study, high-level leader visits—one of the most visible and consequential practices in global politics—have recently attracted renewed scholarly attention. This resurgence stems from the growing recognition of leader visits as a valuable lens for addressing foundational questions in international relations, including why states act as they do, the consequences of their actions, and how their behavior shap…
State repression and elite support for international human rights
Are politicians who have previously experienced human rights violations more supportive of promoting human rights abroad? Much of the literature on human rights advocacy has centered on actors at the international or state levels. By contrast, this article focuses on individual politicians and their personal life experiences. Understanding variations in commitment to global human rights among political leaders within a country is particularly imp…
Socialization, Self-Selection, and the Life Experiences of World Leaders
US Diplomatic Visits and Allies’ Military Spending
This article develops and tests two competing arguments regarding how a patron’s diplomatic visits influence the military spending of protégés. One argument posits that a patron’s visits will decrease allies’ defense spending by producing reassurance (reassurance hypothesis). Another perspective contends that such visits will increase allies’ burden sharing by fostering allied partnerships (partnership hypothesis). I test these hypotheses by anal…
Travel to allies or adversaries? A compositional analysis of U.S. diplomatic visits
Objective When and why do U.S. leaders visit their allies or adversaries? Much of the literature on diplomatic visits treats each visit as an independent observation. In this article, we analyze high‐level diplomatic visits as compositional data based on the assumption that they are scarce political resources. Methods We conduct a compositional analysis of U.S. high‐level officials' diplomatic visits between 1950 and 2010. Results We find that U.…
The Long-run Impact of Childhood Wartime Violence on Preferences for Nuclear Proliferation
How do childhood experiences of wartime violence affect individuals’ preferences for nuclear proliferation? This paper argues that individuals who experienced severe war violence during childhood are more likely to value the security-enhancing aspects of nuclear weapons. These individuals are more concerned about being exposed to additional wartime violence, so they view nuclear weapons as a deterrent against large-scale invasions. By utilizing t…
Fear or Anger? Leaders’ Childhood War Trauma and Interstate Conflict Initiation
How does a leader’s childhood exposure to war influence their propensity to initiate conflicts? While much research explains leaders’ national security policies using their combat and rebel experiences, few scholars have examined the effects of childhood wartime violence. I develop and test two competing arguments about the effects of childhood war trauma on future conflict behavior. One argument expects that leaders exposed to war at a young age…
Presidential hawkishness, domestic popularity, and diplomatic normalization
When does the United States normalize its diplomatic relations with its adversaries? This article introduces a theory of diplomatic normalization, focusing on the interaction between the hawkishness of presidents and their domestic popularity. I argue that dovish presidents are more likely to pursue normalization when their domestic approval ratings plummet, as this makes them shift their priorities toward policies they find themselves more comfo…
Nuclear Weapons and Low-Level Military Conflict
Do nuclear weapons deter low-level military conflict? Although the political effects of nuclear weapons have been debated for more than seventy years, scholarship has yet to produce a clear answer. We design a study that reduces the risk of omitted variable bias relative to prior research. Our analysis compares the rates of conflict among eventual nuclear powers in the periods before and after they obtained an arsenal. We include two-way fixed ef…
The Long-run Impact of Childhood Wartime Violence on Preferences for Nuclear Proliferation
How do childhood experiences of wartime violence affect individuals’ preferences for nuclear proliferation? This paper argues that individuals who experienced severe war violence during childhood are more likely to value the security-enhancing aspects of nuclear weapons. These individuals are more concerned about being exposed to additional wartime violence, so they view nuclear weapons as a deterrent against large-scale invasions. By utilizing t…
Nuclear Weapons and Low-Level Military Conflict
Do nuclear weapons deter low-level military conflict? Although the political effects of nuclear weapons have been debated for more than seventy years, scholarship has yet to produce a clear answer. We design a study that reduces the risk of omitted variable bias relative to prior research. Our analysis compares the rates of conflict among eventual nuclear powers in the periods before and after they obtained an arsenal. We include two-way fixed ef…
Travel to allies or adversaries? A compositional analysis of U.S. diplomatic visits
Objective When and why do U.S. leaders visit their allies or adversaries? Much of the literature on diplomatic visits treats each visit as an independent observation. In this article, we analyze high‐level diplomatic visits as compositional data based on the assumption that they are scarce political resources. Methods We conduct a compositional analysis of U.S. high‐level officials' diplomatic visits between 1950 and 2010. Results We find that U.…
Presidential hawkishness, domestic popularity, and diplomatic normalization
When does the United States normalize its diplomatic relations with its adversaries? This article introduces a theory of diplomatic normalization, focusing on the interaction between the hawkishness of presidents and their domestic popularity. I argue that dovish presidents are more likely to pursue normalization when their domestic approval ratings plummet, as this makes them shift their priorities toward policies they find themselves more comfo…
Fear or Anger? Leaders’ Childhood War Trauma and Interstate Conflict Initiation
How does a leader’s childhood exposure to war influence their propensity to initiate conflicts? While much research explains leaders’ national security policies using their combat and rebel experiences, few scholars have examined the effects of childhood wartime violence. I develop and test two competing arguments about the effects of childhood war trauma on future conflict behavior. One argument expects that leaders exposed to war at a young age…
High-Level Leader Visits
Once deemed a “nearly impossible” area of study, high-level leader visits—one of the most visible and consequential practices in global politics—have recently attracted renewed scholarly attention. This resurgence stems from the growing recognition of leader visits as a valuable lens for addressing foundational questions in international relations, including why states act as they do, the consequences of their actions, and how their behavior shap…
Socialization, Self-Selection, and the Life Experiences of World Leaders
US Diplomatic Visits and Allies’ Military Spending
This article develops and tests two competing arguments regarding how a patron’s diplomatic visits influence the military spending of protégés. One argument posits that a patron’s visits will decrease allies’ defense spending by producing reassurance (reassurance hypothesis). Another perspective contends that such visits will increase allies’ burden sharing by fostering allied partnerships (partnership hypothesis). I test these hypotheses by anal…
Nuclear Weapons and Low-Level Military Conflict
Do nuclear weapons deter low-level military conflict? Although the political effects of nuclear weapons have been debated for more than seventy years, scholarship has yet to produce a clear answer. We design a study that reduces the risk of omitted variable bias relative to prior research. Our analysis compares the rates of conflict among eventual nuclear powers in the periods before and after they obtained an arsenal. We include two-way fixed ef…
Presidential hawkishness, domestic popularity, and diplomatic normalization
When does the United States normalize its diplomatic relations with its adversaries? This article introduces a theory of diplomatic normalization, focusing on the interaction between the hawkishness of presidents and their domestic popularity. I argue that dovish presidents are more likely to pursue normalization when their domestic approval ratings plummet, as this makes them shift their priorities toward policies they find themselves more comfo…
US Diplomatic Visits and Allies’ Military Spending
This article develops and tests two competing arguments regarding how a patron’s diplomatic visits influence the military spending of protégés. One argument posits that a patron’s visits will decrease allies’ defense spending by producing reassurance (reassurance hypothesis). Another perspective contends that such visits will increase allies’ burden sharing by fostering allied partnerships (partnership hypothesis). I test these hypotheses by anal…
Travel to allies or adversaries? A compositional analysis of U.S. diplomatic visits
Objective When and why do U.S. leaders visit their allies or adversaries? Much of the literature on diplomatic visits treats each visit as an independent observation. In this article, we analyze high‐level diplomatic visits as compositional data based on the assumption that they are scarce political resources. Methods We conduct a compositional analysis of U.S. high‐level officials' diplomatic visits between 1950 and 2010. Results We find that U.…
The Long-run Impact of Childhood Wartime Violence on Preferences for Nuclear Proliferation
How do childhood experiences of wartime violence affect individuals’ preferences for nuclear proliferation? This paper argues that individuals who experienced severe war violence during childhood are more likely to value the security-enhancing aspects of nuclear weapons. These individuals are more concerned about being exposed to additional wartime violence, so they view nuclear weapons as a deterrent against large-scale invasions. By utilizing t…
Fear or Anger? Leaders’ Childhood War Trauma and Interstate Conflict Initiation
How does a leader’s childhood exposure to war influence their propensity to initiate conflicts? While much research explains leaders’ national security policies using their combat and rebel experiences, few scholars have examined the effects of childhood wartime violence. I develop and test two competing arguments about the effects of childhood war trauma on future conflict behavior. One argument expects that leaders exposed to war at a young age…
High-Level Leader Visits
Once deemed a “nearly impossible” area of study, high-level leader visits—one of the most visible and consequential practices in global politics—have recently attracted renewed scholarly attention. This resurgence stems from the growing recognition of leader visits as a valuable lens for addressing foundational questions in international relations, including why states act as they do, the consequences of their actions, and how their behavior shap…
State repression and elite support for international human rights
Are politicians who have previously experienced human rights violations more supportive of promoting human rights abroad? Much of the literature on human rights advocacy has centered on actors at the international or state levels. By contrast, this article focuses on individual politicians and their personal life experiences. Understanding variations in commitment to global human rights among political leaders within a country is particularly imp…
Socialization, Self-Selection, and the Life Experiences of World Leaders
Political science (8 works) · Economics (5 works) · International Relations and Foreign Policy (5 works) · Political economy (4 works) · Psychology (4 works) · Law (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Criminology (2 works) · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies (2 works) · Development economics (2 works)