Phedias
Theophanous

Hello! I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science and an M.A. Student in Economics at Stanford University. I am an applied formal theorist studying strategic competition, primarily in international relations, with a focus on international security and political economy. I combine formal theory with qualitative, experimental, and computational methods.

My dissertation examines interstate competition and territorial conflict. I study how states seek to change the status quo through bargaining, fait accompli, and pressuring via militarized, economic, and diplomatic instruments. I separately examine the implications of my dissertation’s findings for deterrence.

Beyond these areas, I study the strategic incentives shaping the production of scientific knowledge and market-design approaches to reducing congestion and emissions in transportation.

Before Stanford, I studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where I received a BSc in Government and Economics, an MSc in Political Science and Political Economy and a Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Economic Policy.