Patricia Sullivan

Patricia L. Sullivan is an associate professor in the Department of Public Policy and the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies. Sullivan’s research explores the utility of military force as a policy instrument; the effects of foreign military aid and assistance provided to both state and nonstate actors; and factors that affect leaders’ decisions to initiate, escalate, or terminate foreign military operations. Her dissertation argues that militarily strong states fail to attain their war aims vis-à-vis militarily weak actors when they underestimate the cost of attaining their objectives through they use of military force and choose to initiate armed conflicts they do not have the resolve to sustain to victory.