Meet The New Council Members: Cameron Thies

Cameron Thies

Cameron G. Thies is Professor and Director of the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University.  He came to ASU in 2013 from the University of Iowa, where he was previously the Harlan E. McGregor Faculty Fellow and Chair of the Department of Political Science. Thies conducts research in the areas of state building in the developing world, interstate and civil conflict, international trade, and international relations theory.  He has published in journal outlets such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, World Politics, International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, and Comparative Political Studies, among others.  His most recent book is entitled Intra-Industry Trade: Cooperation and Conflict in the Global Political Economy (Stanford University Press, 2015) with Timothy M. Peterson.

Thies has previously served as Council Member, Program Chair, and President of the Foreign Policy Section of the Association, as well as Program Chair for International Security, and Council Member for Political Psychology.  He has also been involved with the Teaching and Learning Conference since its inception, including serving multiple times on its Program Committee and moderating numerous workshop tracks through the years.

Statement of views: I have been a member of the APSA since I was a graduate student.  The association provided me with many formative experiences as a student and later a professor in our discipline.  As a Council Member, I would work to increase access to the association through expansion of the annual meeting to accommodate more participants. I would also ensure the continuation of a vibrant Teaching and Learning Conference, which is an intellectual home for many teacher-scholars at liberal arts and community colleges who would not normally attend the annual meeting.  I would also like to enhance the international profile of the association to increase our engagement with international associations and draw more international scholars to our events.  I would work to continue to develop the association’s capacity to advocate on behalf of political scientists in the public sphere, especially when our work is derided as unnecessary and undeserving of public support.  Finally, I have a strong commitment to mentoring students and junior faculty, and ensuring inclusiveness and diversity in every arena of our professional lives.  I would work to continue to develop the association’s ability to assist in these important areas of professional development and the development of the profession.


The APSA Nominating Committee met on February 13, 2015, and nominated the slate of officers and council members to serve beginning in fall 2015. The call for nominations was circulated widely among the membership with outreach to APSA committees and organized sections. The nominating committee made its decisions after careful deliberation and due consideration for the diversity of the field and the varied interests of political scientists. There were no additional nominees from the members, and council members and officers were approved in October 2015 by the APSA Council, under its power to fill interim vacancies (APSA Constitution, Article V). APSA welcomes the new council members and other officers to APSA leadership.