Biography

Cartland Zhou is a doctoral candidate at the UCLA Political Science Department, specializing as an international relations scholar studying conflict dynamics through the lens of arms transfers. Drawing upon her background as a computational statistician, Cartland’s research seeks to build novel tools to better examine complex international relations dynamics.

Her dissertation is a book project examining mechanisms under which great powers leverage arms transfers for geopolitical strategic gains and their implications for interstate disputes and conflicts. Given that a select few states produce and control the arms and technology required to sustain modern warfare, foreign arms transfers are increasingly crucial towards the instigation, sustainment, and persistence of armed conflicts today. Her book argues that initiating and sustaining wars are no longer independent decisions made by belligerents and their willingness to fight, but rather a complex series of strategic interactions between belligerents and suppliers within a set of logistical constraints.

Beyond her book project, Cartland has also introduced a new dataset of foreign lobbying in the U.S through developing computer vision techniques to parse archival FARA forms. She received an M.A. Political Science and a B.A. International Relations from NYU. She is an Alice Belkin fellow (2023-24), Hans J. Morgenthau fellow (2024-25), and IGCC fellow (2024-25).

Education

BA, Political Science, New York University 2018; MA, Political Science, New York University 2019

Research Interests

International Relations

Graduate Advisors

Eric Min