I am an Assistant Professor at Bilkent University, Department of International Relations.
My research intersects international relations and political economy, with a theoretical focus on self-enforcing solutions to commitment and information problems. More specifically, my theoretical focus includes reputation and signaling dynamics, status concerns, and the emergence of institutions with enforcement power. Substantively, I work on these themes in conflict settings, such as deterrence and crisis escalation, and IPE settings, such as foreign direct investment. I also work on these themes in domestic contexts, such as institutional formation, and domestic implications of international status concerns.
I work with formal models, tools of design-based inference on both observational and experimental data, and computational methods.
I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Research
Publications
- “Reputation and Commitment: When States Exploit Their Reputation, and When They Refrain.” British Journal of Political Science. Forthcoming. [Preprint]
- “Reputations and Change in International Relations." International Studies Quarterly. 2024. 68(3): sqae097. [Preprint]
- “Citizen Expectations, Agency Reputation, and Public Service Quality” with Evrim Tan. 2023. Public Management Review.
- ‘‘Shift-of-axis in Turkish Foreign Policy: Turkish National Role Conceptions Before and During AKP Rule.''. Turkish Studies. 2015. 16(3): 291-309.
Book Project
- Accidental Use of Force in International Relations with Muhammet A. Baş and Ömer F. Örsün. Under contract with Cambridge University Press, Elements Series in International Relations.
Working Papers
- “Mobilization, Repression, and the Choice between Violent and Nonviolent Tactics."
- “When ‘Sorry’ Means a Lot: How Citizens Interpret Apologies in Crisis Contexts” with Muhammet A. Baş and Ömer F. Örsün.
- “Conflict, Social Order, and Mutual Dependence in Production” with Tanguy Le Fur.
- “International Status Concerns Shape Domestic Attitudes Toward Women” with Çağlayan Başer.
- “Framing Women’s Rights and Support for Gender Equality in the Middle East” with Çağlayan Başer and Yusuf Magiya.
Work in Progress
- “Reputation for Resolve Across Contexts in Alliances” (with M. Bas and O. Orsun)
- “Fighting, Bargaining, and Commitment Problems.”
- “Uncertainty and War? It is Commitment All the Way Down.”
Contact
- ekrem.baser@bilkent.edu.tr
- Bilkent University, International Relations Department, Ankara, 06800, Turkey