Stephanie Kang is a PhD candidate studying international relations at the University of Southern California. Her research explains why security commitments between states vary and how such variation has different effects on the strategic environment of actors in dispute. In particular, she is interested in the relationship between the security obligations and provisions laid out in alliance treaties (“treaty commitments”) and the physical military actions/measures taken in peacetime to coordinate allies’ militaries in preparation for potential conflict (“material commitments”). Stephanie’ research has broad implications for the study of conflict, extended deterrence, and the design of security commitments. Her research has been funded by the Fulbright Program, the Korea Foundation, and the US Department of Education. She was also an APSA Minority Fellow from 2016-2017. Stephanie received her MA in international studies at Seoul National University in South Korea, and her BA with honors in political science at the University of California, Irvine.
