About 

I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at Amherst College, where I run the IRLab @Amherst College. 

My first book, Volatile States in International Politics (Oxford University Press, 2023) won the 2025 ISA-ISSS Best Book Award. It explores how power and interests combine to stir states toward inconsistent behavior. Leveraging time series analysis, text analysis, and archival research, the book offers an in-depth account of why countries' treacherous foreign policies often have harmless origins, what this means for international politics, and what to do about it.

My research on civil war and on nuclear weapons technology has been published in outlets such as the British Journal of Political Science, International Interactions, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, and Perspectives on Politics. My commentary has appeared on New Security Beat, Duck of Minerva, and The Conversation.

I am working on several projects on when and why combatants and civilians opt for scorched earth techniques.

I hold a PhD in Political Science from The Ohio State University and a Laurea Triennale and Magistrale from Università degli Studi di Bologna (at Forlì).  Previously, I was the Karl Loewenstein Fellow at Amherst College. 

I am on X @ProfEMattiacci. I also host interviews with Academic book authors on the New Books Network.