Max Plithides

Max Plithides is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He received an M.A. in political science from UCLA in 2021 and a B.A. in economics from Trinity University in 2015. He broadly studies international political economy and security. In his dissertation, Max examines why states with comparable gross economic indicators, development levels, and populations commonly produce dissimilar levels of military power. Drawing on economic theories of production and specialization, he theorizes that, because militaries derive from civilian economies everything from material factors like equipment and human resources to non-material factors like cultural and organizational norms, the composition of a state’s civilian economic assets significantly conditions its overall ability to produce martial power. Max’s current work uses original historical datasets, contemporary Ukraine War data, archival documents, machine learning models, and time series analysis methodologies. In doing so, he reconsiders numerous important questions within security studies, such as why some modern states maintain conscription, why petrostates consistently demonstrate low levels of military effectiveness, and how military leaders select tactical and operational objectives.