Averell Schmidt
Biography
Averell Schmidt is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in International and Public Affairs at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He received his Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University in May 2024. He was previously a Transitional Justice Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, a Research Fellow in the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Hans J. Morgenthau Fellow at the Notre Dame International Security Center. Before beginning his doctoral studies, Averell received a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, served with the Peace Corps in Morocco, fought forest fires in the Sawtooth National Forest, and worked for public policy research organizations in Sri Lanka, Israel, Georgia, and Egypt. He will join the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California as an Assistant Professor in August 2026.
Research
Averell’s research examines the politics of international cooperation and global governance institutions. While at the Watson Institute, he will be working on two research agendas. First, he will be working on a book project, tentatively titled “Exit and the Evolution of International Cooperation,” which seeks to explain the consequences of states’ decisions to withdraw from multilateral treaties and organizations. Second, he will be writing a series of articles examining the politics and effectiveness of institutions governing the use of force and the abuse of human rights. His research combines quantitative and computational methods with case studies and historical evidence, with the goal of contributing broadly to the fields of international relations, political economy, security, human rights, and law.
Publications
Averell Schmidt, “Damaged Relations: How Treaty Withdrawal Impacts International Cooperation,” American Journal of Political Science, Forthcoming.
Averell Schmidt, “Treaty Withdrawal and the Development of International Law,” Review of International Organizations, Forthcoming.
Kathryn Sikkink, Helen Clapp, Daniel Marin-Lopez, and Averell Schmidt, “Gender and Transitional Justice: Explaining Global Trends,” International Journal of Transitional Justice, Forthcoming.
Averell Schmidt and Kathryn Sikkink, “Breaking the Ban? The Heterogeneous Impact of US Contestation of the Torture Norm,” Journal of Global Security Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 (January 2019), pp. 105–122.
Averell Schmidt and Kathryn Sikkink, “Partners in Crime: An Empirical Evaluation of the CIA’s Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation Program,” Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 16, No. 4 (December 2018), pp. 1014–1033.
Douglas A. Johnson, Alberto Mora, and Averell Schmidt, “The Strategic Costs of Torture: How Enhanced Interrogations Hurt America,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 95, No. 5 (September/October 2016), pp. 121–132.
Teaching
Global Governance