I’m flying to Baltimore, MD this week to attend the International Studies Association annual meeting. I’ll be presenting new research on Saturday, which looks at the ways states’ policies towards religion influence terrorist targeting. I found that states favoring a certain religion over others leads terrorist groups to launch more attacks against religious sites, as these sites become politicized and the focus on debates in society. This is my part of broader research on religion and political violence.

I will also be attending events held by the Religion and International Relations section (of which I am the secretary). We’ll be having our business meeting, a roundtable honoring our distinguished scholar award, and our reception on Friday.

I’m back at UVM after a great visit to Philly for APSA. I got some great feedback on the paper I presented–the first part of a new project on religion and international crises–and saw some really interesting presentations on religion and conflict, international hierarchy and religion-state relations. I also had the opportunity to chair an excellent panel featuring exciting new research on terrorism.

I’m heading to the American Political Science Association (APSA)  annual meeting today in my home city of Philly. I’ll be presenting a paper on how Middle East states try to benefit from religious crises, which is the first stage of a new project. I’ll also be moderating a panel on new terrorism research. I’m looking forward to some great conversations.