I am a 6th year Ph.D. Candidate in Purdue University's Political Science Department. I study irregular warfare methods, wars over territory, conflict mapping, power transition theory, and Private Military Contractors like the Wagner Group. My geographic focus is on 21st Century conflicts in the Indo-Pacific, NATO relations in Eastern Europe, and the Russo-Ukraine war (2014-Present).
My dissertation investigates how states take sovereign territory from one another while avoiding the high costs of traditional war. I focus on short-of-war strategies, such as false information campaigns, cyber-attacks, and unidentified troops used to increase plausible deniability. My interest is placed on “repeat offenders,” those states that have continually and repeatedly pursued territorial conquest since World War One.
Prior to Candidacy, I earned an MA in Political Science from Purdue University in 2021, an MA in International Relations and World Order from the University of Leicester in 2018, and a BA in Geography from Texas Christian University in 2014.
Upcoming conference attendance:
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ellis-purdue
My dissertation investigates how states take sovereign territory from one another while avoiding the high costs of traditional war. I focus on short-of-war strategies, such as false information campaigns, cyber-attacks, and unidentified troops used to increase plausible deniability. My interest is placed on “repeat offenders,” those states that have continually and repeatedly pursued territorial conquest since World War One.
Prior to Candidacy, I earned an MA in Political Science from Purdue University in 2021, an MA in International Relations and World Order from the University of Leicester in 2018, and a BA in Geography from Texas Christian University in 2014.
Upcoming conference attendance:
- American Political Science Association 2024 (APSA)
- Irregular Warfare Center University Colloquium 2024
- APSA-ISA Joint International Security Studies Conference 2024 (ISSS-ISA)
- International Studies Association Northeast 2024 (ISA-NE
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ellis-purdue
