I am working on an article entitled, "Why Presidents Don't Matter Very Much." Many analysts argue that U.S. foreign policy since 1991 has reflected the preferences, beliefs, biases, and worldviews of its most important officials. In the piece, I cast doubt on this interpretation and suggest that the United States has behaved in the way that it has in the post-Cold War era because it has been far more powerful than any other state in the world.

I am also working on an article entitled, "Why the United States Committed to Europe." In the piece, I make two controversial claims. First, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the United States decided to make a more or less permanent military commitment to Western Europe in the early 1960s, not the late 1940s. Second, Washington committed to Europe because it wanted to extend its influence to the region and not because it wanted to defend itself and its allies from the Soviet Union as most scholars suggest.

Finally, I have started work on a book about the role of intentions in international politics.