Associate Professor, Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden
During his Riksbankens Jubileumsfond Fellowship, Elias Götz will be working on the project ‘Deterrence Matters: Assessing the Effectiveness of Tripwires in International Politics’
In this project, Elias Götz will examine when, why and how forward-deployed tripwire forces deter a potential attacker. Combining congruence analysis (which checks whether theoretical expectations match the actual outcomes) of 21 cases with an in-depth study of the 1948 Berlin Crisis, his project develops and tests a theoretical framework that is integrating rational, psychological and regime-type factors. By identifying the conditions under which tripwires succeed or fail, Elias Götz's project seeks to advance deterrence theory, a theory which explains how states try to prevent conflict by convincing potential adversaries that the costs of attacking would outweigh any possible gains. Ultimately, his study will lay the groundwork for a more integrated thinking about international security and will provide policy-relevant insights for contemporary security challenges.
Elias Götz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government at Uppsala University. His work focuses on Russian foreign policy, European security, and international relations theory. He has published on these and related topics in such journals as Contemporary Security Policy, International Security, and Cooperation & Conflict.
Project title: ‘Deterrence Matters: Assessing the Effectiveness of Tripwires in International Politics’
Area of research: Political Science
Fellowship period: 1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2027
Fellowship type: Riksbankens Jubileumsfonds Fellow
Contact: TBA
This fellowship has received funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ).
