Rate My Professor Aaron Belkin

Professor Belkin specializes in military masculinity and sexuality in the armed forces, with research extending to civil-military relations, coups d'état, LGBTQ military inclusion, and strategies for translating research into policy impact. His major publications include Bring Me Men: Military Masculinity and the Benign Façade of American Empire, 1898–2001 (Columbia University Press, 2012), United We Stand? Divide and Conquer Politics and the Logic of International Hostility (State University of New York Press, 2005), Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Exploring the Debates on the Gay Ban in the U.S. Military (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003, co-edited), Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics (Princeton University Press, 1996, co-edited), and the e-book How We Won: Progressive Lessons from the Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (Huffington Post Media Group, 2011). He has published over two dozen peer-reviewed articles, such as “Toward a Structural Understanding of Coup Risk” (Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2003, 625 citations) and “Does Social Cohesion Determine Motivation in Combat?” (Armed Forces & Society, 2006). Belkin is founding co-editor of Critical Military Studies. His efforts through the Palm Center were instrumental in eroding support for military anti-gay and anti-transgender policies, contributing to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the lifting of the transgender service ban. Honors include a MacArthur Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (1996–1997), National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (1992–1995), Freedom Award from Beth Chayim Chadashim, and Monette-Horwitz Award.