Associate Professor of Political Science Director, Institute for Ethics in Public Life
Dr. Lake joined the SUNY Plattsburgh department of Political Science in 2007, after
visiting lecturer positions at Wayne State University, Sweet Briar College, and Denison
University. Dr. Lake earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego,
where he studied international relations and comparative politics with a specialization
on international conflict and security. He teaches a variety of course in international
relations and comparative politics.
Dr. Lake wrote The Pursuit of Technological Superiority and the Shrinking American Military, published by Palgrave-MacMillan in 2019. This book analyzes the U.S. military’s
efforts to gain and maintain technological superiority and shows how these are having
the paradoxical effect of making the U.S. military more fragile even as it becomes
more capable. His other research interests include coercion, particularly “gunboat
diplomacy” and other forms of military coercion, how international norms and rules
affect whether governments decide to go to war, and the impact of technological change
on military organizations.
“Technological Change and Military Transformation: The Decline of the Mass Military”,
2019 Annual Conference of the International Security Studies Section (ISA) and the
International Studies and Arms Control Section (APSA), Denver, Colorado, 18–19 Oct.
2019.
“The Decline of the Mass Military”, 2019 Annual Convention of the International Studies
Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 27–30 Mar. 2019.
“The Real ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’? Technological Change and the Decline of
the Mass Military”, 2017 Annual Convention of the International Studies Association,
Baltimore, Maryland, 22–25 Feb. 2017.
“The Norm Against Aggression and the Decline of Interstate War”, 2013 International
Studies Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, 3–6 Apr. 2013.
“Making it Real: Using Contemporary Issues and the News to Increase Student Engagement
in General Education Courses”, with Mary Anne Lake, 4th Annual Conference on Teaching
and Learning held at SUNY Plattsburgh on April 14, 2012.
“Technology, Qualitative Superiority, and the Overstretched American Military”, 2012
International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Diego, 1–4 Apr. 2012.
“The Persistent Peacefulness of the Post-Cold War Era” 2012 International Studies
Association Annual Convention, San Diego, 1–4 Apr. 2012.
“IR Theory and Conquest in the 21st Century”, 2011 International Studies Association
Annual Convention, Montreal, 17 Mar. 2011.
Dr. Lake wrote The Pursuit of Technological Superiority and the Shrinking American Military, published by Palgrave-MacMillan in 2019. This book analyzes the U.S. military’s
efforts to gain and maintain technological superiority and shows how these are having
the paradoxical effect of making the U.S. military more fragile even as it becomes
more capable. His other research interests include coercion, particularly “gunboat
diplomacy” and other forms of military coercion, how international norms and rules
affect whether governments decide to go to war, and the impact of technological change
on military organizations.