Thomas Ambrosio (born May 31, 1971) is a professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in the Criminal Justice and Political Science Department at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

. He teaches courses in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

and

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

Career

Ambrosio received his B.A. from Trenton State College (now, the College of New Jersey) and his PhD in foreign affairs in 2000 from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. Ambrosio taught at Western Kentucky University from 1999 to 2000 and has since then taught at North Dakota State University, where he is a professor with tenure. He is currently the Department Head of Criminal Justice and Political Science. In 2007, Ambrosio was awarded the NDSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences 'Outstanding Research' award as well as the 'Distinguished Educator's Award' from the NDSU chapter of the Blue Key National Honor Society. Ambrosio was director of NDSU's International Studies Major from 2009 to 2014. In 2011, he was awarded the NDSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences 'Outstanding Educator' award. In 2017 he received the NDSU College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences 'Outstanding Service' award. On 18 April 2018, Ambrosio delivered the NDSU Faculty Lectureship, one of the oldest and most prestigious of the University's awards, which recognizes sustained professional excellence in teaching, scholarly achievement, and service among current faculty at NDSU. The Faculty Lectureship is conferred on an individual who has demonstrated excellence in all three areas. His presentation, "A New, New World Order: America's Challenges in a Post-American International System," can be viewed.

Publications

Ambrosio has published extensively on the relationship between

ethnic groups An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

and

nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...

s, examining such topics as: attempts by states to annex the territory of other states where their co-nationals reside (

Irredentism Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

); the status of nations in

; the role played by organized

ethnic interest group An ethnic interest group or ethnic lobby, according to Thomas Ambrosio, is an advocacy group (often a foreign policy interest group) established along cultural, ethnic, religious or racial lines by an ethnic group for the purposes of directly or in ...

s in the formulation of governmental foreign policy; the role that political opportunity structures limit nationalist expression; and, how Russia's conception of itself affects its relationship with the United States and its perceived role in the unipolar international system. Ambrosio's most recent articles have examined Russia-China relations, authoritarian learning, American perceptions of the Russian threat, Russia’s perception management campaign over its annexation of Crimea, Russian treaties with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and President Obama’s geopolitical code. He is currently working on projects on hereditary succession in the former Soviet Union and U.S. threat perceptions of Russia and China. Ambrosio's most recently completed a book project was entitled ''Authoritarian Backlash: Russian Resistance to Democratization in the Former Soviet Union'' and examines five strategies that an increasingly authoritarian Russia has adopted to preserve the Kremlin's political power: insulate, bolster, subvert, redefine and coordinate. Each strategy seeks to counter or undermine regional democratic trends both at home and throughout the former Soviet Union. Policies such as these are of great concern to the growing literature on how autocratic regimes are becoming more active in their resistance to democracy. Through detailed case studies of each strategy, this book makes significant contributions to our understandings of Russian domestic and foreign policies, democratization theory, and the policy challenges associated with democracy promotion. Ambrosio's curriculum vitae lists his publications.https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~ambrosio/cv_ambrosio.pdf

Books

* ''Russian Resistance to Democratization in the Former Soviet Union. 2009. '' * ''Challenging America's Global Preeminence: Russia's Quest for Multipolarity. 2005. '' * ''Ethnic Identity Groups and U.S. Foreign Policy''. (as editor and contributor) 2002. * ''International Law and the Rise of Nations''. (as co-editor, with

Robert J. Beck Robert J. Beck (born 1961) is an educator and scholar of international law and international relations. Education Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and educated at Marquette University High School, Beck received an Honors B.A. (Political Science, Hi ...

, and contributor) 2001. * ''Irredentism: Ethnic Conflict and International Politics''. 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrosio, Thomas 1971 births Living people American political scientists International relations scholars North Dakota State University faculty University of Virginia alumni