Professor Maoz and his co-author examine the effects of shocks on international networks. They develop an agent-based model (ABM) that allows them to: (1) examine two network formation processes that were shown to characterize international networks—preferential attachment and homophily; (2) analyze the properties of such networks at equilibrium; (3) induce shocks that reduce that capacity of nodes to form ties; (4) study how the networks react to these shocks by regenerating themselves in the post-shock period; (5) compare the pre- and post-shock structures of these networks at equilibrium and derive propositions about the relationship between shock type and network structure. They test the propositions deduced from the ABM by comparing the effects of shocks on stimulated networks to the effect of similar shocks on real-world alliance and trade networks.

Zeev Maoz is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis, as well as Distinguished Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He is Director of the Correlates of War Project and former President of the Peace Science Society (International). His fields of specialization include strategy and international security affairs, international relations theory, decision making and negotiations, and political methodology. In the field of Middle East politics, his work concentrates on the international relations of the region.

Presented by the Department of Political Science Graduate Student Speaker Series.

PS 595 Credit.