Robert Trager
Associate Professor
Department: Political Science
Email: rtrager@ucla.edu
Website
Keywords: Economics, China, Japan, Africa, Asia, Latin America, European Union, Art, Politics, Labor, Korea, Gender, Education, Public Health, Film, Brazil, East Asia, Islamic Studies, Shona, African popular cultures, African literatures, Media Studies, Globalization, History, Economic Theory, Health Economics, Humanities, Health, Language, Literature, Medicine, Post-Colonial African Literature, Language Proficiency, Francophone Africa, African Cinema, Linguistics, Cultural Studies, Sociolinguistics, Mexi
Robert F. Trager is an Associate Professor of International Relations at UCLA. Before joining UCLA’s faculty, Professor Trager taught at Oxford University and held an Olin Fellowship at Harvard University. He currently sits on the boards of the Burkle Center for International Relations and the Institute for Global Cooperation and Conflict, and is a corporation member of the Marine Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole, MA. Prior to graduate school, he worked in investment banking at Lehman Brothers.
His research focuses on how states form beliefs about the intentions of other states. In particular, he examines the role of diplomatic communication,how public reactions structure the incentives of political leaders in the international system, how fairness heuristics influence preferences and equilibrium selection, and a variety of other topics.
Professor Trager’s first book, Diplomacy: Communication and the Origins of Perception is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. He is currently at work on a second book discussing the ways that fairness norms influence the construction of conflicts. Additionally, he is pursuing a third project on the evolution of cultural norms among competing groups. His work has appeared in journals such as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, International Organization, International Security, Security Studies, The New York Times, and Foreign Policy, among others.
Education:
Ph.D. with Distinction, Political Science, 2007, Columbia University
MPhil. 2002, Columbia University
MSc. with Distinction, 1997, London School of Economics
B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Philosophy, 1995, Middlebury College
Selected Publications:
Diplomacy: Communication and the Origins of International Order. Forthcoming with Cambridge University Press.
Diplomatic Signaling Among Multiple States. Journal of Politics, v. 77, n. 3, 2015, pp. 635-647.
Winner of the 2015 Best Article Award of the Diplomatic Studies Section of the International Studies Association.
How the Scope of a Demand Conveys Resolve. International Theory, v. 5, n. 3, 2013, pp. 414-44
Theory, v. 5, n. 3, 2013, pp. 414-445.