Dr. Jon DiCicco teaches courses, conducts scholarship, and directs the Master of Arts in International Affairs program. Dr. DiCicco teaches graduate courses in international relations (IR) theory, international security, and peace studies, and regularly offers undergraduate courses on IR, international conflict, and the politics of protest. Dr. DiCicco has published his scholarly work in leading journals in political science and IR, including International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Political Research Quarterly. He routinely peer-reviews manuscripts for reputable journals and presses, and recently served on the editorial board of the APSA journal PS: Political Science & Politics. He writes occasionally for H-Diplo, which is H-Net's network for diplomatic history and international affairs, and has published op-eds in The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Tennessean, among others. In 2023 he was Visiting Professor at Sapienza University in Rome, Italy. DiCicco maintains a professional presence on Twitter/X (@dicicco_jon).

Originally from New York, DiCicco earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 2006, and taught courses at Rutgers and at Lehigh University while finishing his doctoral studies. He held a faculty post at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York for 12 years before moving to Tennessee in August 2018. Since arriving at MTSU, DiCicco has joined the Graduate Faculty and the Honors College Faculty, and he has earned tenure and promotion to the rank of full professor. He resides in Nashville.

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• “Sustainable Strategic Adjustment: Confronting Climate Change and Rethinking Restraint in U.S. Grand Strategy” (with Fahad Rajput). In J. Patrick Rhamey Jr. and Spencer D. Bakich, eds., The Sources of Great Power Competition: Rising Powers, Grand Strategy, and System Dynamics (Routledge, 2024).
• "Trump and U.S.-China Strategic Competition as the 'New' Normal." In Robert Jervis, Diane N. Labrosse, Stacie E. Goddard, and Joshua Rovner, eds., Chaos Reconsidered: The Liberal Order and the Future of International Politics (New York: Columbia University Press, 2023), pp. 196–210.
• "Whose Status Quo Is It, Anyway? Regions, Hierarchies, and Satisfaction.” In William R. Thompson and Thomas J. Volgy, eds., Turmoil and Order in Regional International Politics (Singapore: Springer Nature, 2023), pp. 11–35.
• "Great-Power Competition" (with Tudor Onea), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies, January 2023.
• "The Security Dilemma Exercise: Hawks, Doves, and Moles.” Journal of Political Science Education 17, Supplement 1 (December 2021): 40-50. (Published online, July 2020)
• "Sino-American Rivalry in the Shadow of Trump: Images and Impressions." H-Diplo/ISSF Policy Series: America and the World—The Effects of the Trump Presidency, June 23, 2021. (web-only version)
• "Revisionism in International Relations" (with Victor M. Sanchez), The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies, March 2021.
• Introductory essay to H-Diplo/ISSF roundtable on Steve Chan's book Thucydides’s Trap? Historical Interpretation, Logic of Inquiry, and the Future of Sino-American Relations, November 9, 2020.
• “The Things They Carried: Generational Effects of the Vietnam War on Elite Opinion” (with Benjamin O. Fordham). International Studies Quarterly 62, 1 (March 2018): 131-144.
• “International Rivalries and National Security” (with Brandon Valeriano). In The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security, edited by Derek S. Reveron, Nikolas K. Gvosdev, and John A. Cloud. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• “Power Transition Theory and the Essence of Revisionism.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Empirical International Relations Theory, edited by William R. Thompson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• “National Security Council: Simulating Decision-making Dilemmas in Real Time.” International Studies Perspectives 15, 4 (November 2014): 438–458.
• “Fear, Loathing, and Cracks in Reagan’s Mirror Images: Able Archer 83 and an American First Step toward Rapprochement in the Cold War.” Foreign Policy Analysis 7, 3 (July 2011): 253–274.
• “Avalanches and Olive Branches: A Multimethod Analysis of Disasters and Peacemaking in Interstate Rivalries” (with Seden Akcinaroglu and Elizabeth Radziszewski). Political Research Quarterly 64, 2 (June 2011): 260–275.
• “Power Shifts and Problem Shifts: The Evolution of the Power Transition Research Program” (with Jack S. Levy). Journal of Conflict Resolution 43, 6 (December 1999): 675-704. Reprinted in War, Volume III, edited by Paul F. Diehl. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications (2004).
• Presence, Prevention, and Persuasion: A Historical Analysis of Military Force and Political Influence (co-authored with Edward Rhodes, Sarah S. Milburn, and Tom Walker). Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2004.

Citations to these and other publications are tracked by Google Scholar. See DiCicco's citation page here.

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• "Spheres of Influence and Great-Power Competition." Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco, April 2024 (with co-author Tudor Onea).
• "NATO and the future: a view from the United States." Third Annual Festival of Geopolitics & International Relations, UNINT University of International Studies of Rome, Thursday May 18, 2023.
• "Great-Power Competition in International Relations: a feature, or a bug?" Sapienza University of Rome, Wednesday May 17, 2023.
• “Great Power Competition, Regional Orders, and Restraint: Peering Over the Horizon” (virtual). West Point SOSH Seminar: “Order, Counter-Order, Disorder? Regional and Global Security Orders in the Shadow of Sino-American Competition,” U.S. Military Academy at West Point, February 9-10, 2023.
• "Whose Status Quo Is It, Anyway? Regions, Hierarchies, and Satisfaction." Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Nashville, March-April 2022. Forthcoming as a chapter in Turmoil and Order in Regional International Politics (Springer, 2023). Also at ISA 2022: panelist, "International Security Studies Section 2022 Distinguished Scholar Award Panel Honoring Jack S. Levy"; and panel discussant & chair, "Conflict Delegation and Proxy Wars." 
• "Whose Status Quo Is It, Anyway? Regions, Hierarchies, and (Dis)satisfaction in Emergent System(s)." Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, San Antonio, January 2022 (virtual/hybrid). Also at SPSA 2022: panel discussant & chair, "Alliances and Interstate Relations."
• "Great Power Competition, Regional Orders, and Restraint: Peering Over the Horizon." Rising Powers: History & Strategy Conference, Virginia Military Institute, November 2021.
• Panel discussant, "Revisionism in International Politics," Società Italiana di Scienza Politica, September 2021 (virtual).
• "Assessing Regional Status Quo (Dis)satisfaction." TransResearch Consortium Summer Conference, Monterey, California, August 2021.
• "Sino-Soviet Border Clashes as (Manufactured) Shock to Sino-American Rivalry." Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Las Vegas, March 2021 (virtual).
• "Revisionism in Nested Hierarchical Orders: Dissatisfaction and Danger in the Emergent System." Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Las Vegas, March 2021 (virtual).
• “Sino-Soviet Border Clashes as Shock to Sino-American Rivalry.” Joint conference of the APSA and ISA on International Security, Denver, Colorado, October 2019.
• “Status Quo Evaluations and Revisionism in Nested Hierarchical Orders.” TransResearch Consortium Summer Conference, Portland, Oregon, August 2019.
• “It Takes Practice to Tango: Elite Influencers and the Roots of Rivalry.” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Toronto, March 2019 (with Emily Meierding).
• “Microfoundations of International Rivalries.” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Toronto, March 2019.
• Panel Discussant and Chair, “War and its Winners and Losers.” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Toronto, March 2019.
• “Ethnic Group Bargaining as a Determinant of Interstate Rivalry.” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco, March 2018 (with Douglas M. Gibler).
• “Power Transition Theory and the Essence of Revisionism.” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Baltimore, February 2017.
• “Microfoundations of Peaceful Change in International Rivalries,” and panel co-discussant, (“Negotiations, Settlement, and Future Peace”), Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Atlanta, March 2016.
• Invited Participant, Roundtable: “The Study of Rivalry: History, Science, Synthesis?” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 2015.
• “Do Not Leave Baggage Unattended: Formative Events, Leaders’ Generational Identities, and Peacemaking between Rivals.” Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Toronto, March 2014.

Presentations not included in this selection are listed on DiCicco's CV.

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DiCicco's research has emphasized themes of leadership, including leaders in times of war and peace, leaders' roles in managing and resolving rivalries, U.S. leadership of the international order, and competition over that order. DiCicco sits on the Board of Advisers at the TransResearch Consortium, a nonprofit institution that encourages research related to impending global transitions driven by power shifts and demographic changes. For one of DiCicco's policy-oriented publications, see "Shock and Thaw? The Limited Prospects for US-Iran De-escalation," in the online magazine Political Violence at a Glance (January 15, 2020). Recent and ongoing projects focus on so-called "great-power competition," spheres of influence, and revisionism; the microfoundations of rivalry change, including public opinion and generational attitudes toward enemy countries and the use of force abroad; and the struggle to adjust US defense policy to changing global and realities, including climate change and the rise of China as a near-peer competitor.

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Dr. DiCicco supports student activities related to the United Nations. At MTSU, DiCicco serves as faculty adviser to the Society for International Affairs, the student club that fields delegations to Model UN conferences. DiCicco occasionally teaches a course called Model United Nations & Crisis Simulation (PS 2130) in which students learn about the UN and Model UN, and participate in simulations of international diplomacy and crisis management. DiCicco fosters other UN-related activities, including for example a recent visit to MTSU's Political Science and International Relations Department from Cynthia Yue, the 2021-2022 U.S. Youth Observer to the UN. Read Cynthia's blog post about interviewing U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield!

Students interested in Model UN at MTSU should sign up with the Society for International Affairs and reach out to Dr. DiCicco for more information.

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• Panelist, "Crisis in the Middle East," a virtual panel co-sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, the University Honors College, and the American Democracy Project at Middle Tennessee State University, October 19, 2023. Available on demand from MTSU's True Blue TV.
• Quoted in story for HowStuffWorks, "Why the U.S. Hasn't Always Supported the International Criminal Court," June 9, 2022.
• Quoted in story for HowStuffWorks, "6 Startling Revelations from Declassified U.S. Government Documents," January 25, 2022.
• Quoted in Zenger News story, "Capitol Bloodshed: Radicals Stormed The People’s House Decades Ago," February 4, 2021.
• Guest post with Elizabeth Radziszewski at Duck of Minerva: "Coronavirus, Communal Violence, and the Politics of Rivalry in India and Pakistan." May 18, 2020. 
• Op-Ed in The Tennessean: "Targeted killing of Iranian general Qassim Suleimani creates high risks for U.S." (reprinted in the Memphis Commerical Appeal) January 10, 2020.
• Op-Ed in The Tennessean: "The Trump administration needs a diversion. Iran will do, and Congress will fold" (reprinted in USA Today, Yahoo! News, and others) May 2019.
• Featured Op-Ed in The Tennessean: "Donald Trump is withdrawing troops from Syria; the question is not why, but why now?" January 2019. 
• Monkey Cage blog post in The Washington Post online: "Fifty years ago, American troops abandoned Khe Sanh. Here’s how the U.S. got over ‘Vietnam syndrome.’" (with Benjamin O. Fordham). July 2018.

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• PS 3210 - International Relations
• PS 4210 - International Conflict: Causes, Consequences, and Responses
• PS 4860 - Protest, Politics, and the State in Today's World
• PS 6100 - International Relations Theory & Practice
• PS 6110 - International Security in a Changing World
• PS 6120 - Peace and Conflict Resolution: Concepts, Processes, and Consequences
• PS 2130 - Model United Nations and Crisis Simulation (experiential learning course)
• PS 1010 - Introduction to Global Politics (Buchanan Honors section)
• PS 2000 - Political Science and International Relations as a Profession
• PS 3001 - Research Methods in Political Science

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