Rate My Professor Krista Wiegand

Krista Wiegand is Professor of Public Policy and Public Affairs and Director of the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs in the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She earned her PhD in Political Science from Duke University in 2004. Wiegand holds a joint appointment at the Y-12 National Security Complex and serves as a non-resident Adjunct Fellow with Pacific Forum. Previously, she was Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Director of the Global Security Program at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. Her research focuses on international security, territorial and maritime disputes, Indo-Pacific security dynamics involving countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, and the Philippines, U.S. national security strategy, alliances including U.S.-Japan and U.S.-Australia relations, nuclear and conventional deterrence, rebel group grievances, and conflict resolution mechanisms such as mediation, arbitration, and adjudication.

Wiegand has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in leading journals including the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, British Journal of Politics & International Relations, Journal of East Asian Studies, and International Interactions. Key publications include 'Mutually Assured Distrust: Ideology and Commitment Problems in Civil Wars' (Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2020, with Eric Keels), 'An Inside Job? Mediator Knowledge and Settlements in Civil Wars' (British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 2020, with Eric Keels and Erin Rowland), 'The Peaceful Resolution of Territorial Disputes Dataset, 1945-2015' (Journal of Peace Research, 2020, with Emilia Justyna Powell and Steven McDowell), 'Walking a Fine Line: U.S. Involvement in Bilateral Tensions between South Korea and Japan' (Journal of East Asian Studies, 2025, with Sojeong Lee), and 'A Substantive Approach to Peace: Rebel Group Grievances and the Durability of Peace Agreements' (European Journal of International Relations, 2025, with Eric Keels and Minnie Joo). She co-authored the book The Peaceful Resolution of Territorial and Maritime Disputes, which received the Best Book Award from the International Law Section of the International Studies Association in 2025. Wiegand served as Lead Editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2019 to 2023 and contributed to the ICOW Identity Claims Data Set (1946-2017, 2024, with Paul Hensel, Sara Mitchell, and Andy Owsiak). Recent honors include a Fulbright Specialist Program award for lectures on national security, global conflict, governance, and Indo-Pacific politics at Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University in the Philippines (November-December 2025) and a Stanton Foundation grant in 2024 to develop the course Nuclear Policy and Deterrence (HBS 456/556).