Education
Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley.
Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley.
Fearon"s work on wars emphasizes the need to explain why rationally-led states end up fighting a war instead of bargaining, even though bargaining can make both sides better off a priori. He also elaborates on how democracies are better able to signal intent in war based on domestic audience costs. Fearon has also contributed to the study of deliberative democracy.
Fearon has three basic assumptions about war.
First, war is a more costly choice than peace. Second, war is predictably unpredictable.
And third, there are no direct benefits from fighting. Fearon calls these pieces war"s inefficiency puzzle.
Fearon was identified by constructivist scholar Marc Lynch as the "leading rationalist" in international relations theory and credited him with resolving (along with constructivist Alexander Wendt) much of the theoretical debate between the two camps.
Fearon has a Doctor of Philosophy from University of California Berkeley and a Bachelor from Harvard University.