Vasquez Brings Unique Perspective to Foreign Policy
by Gary James '10
Everyone has an opinion about war and peace, but how many of those opinions are informed through both personal military service and an academic background in International Relations? Assistant Professor of Political Science Paul Vasquez has lived both experiences. Professor Vasquez is the newest tenure-track faculty member in the Political Science Department. He comes to Wabash from Notre Dame and brings to Wabash unique insight into the workings of foreign policy.  Professor Vasquez grew up in Brunswick, Georgia, a colonial town founded in the late-1700s. Not far away is an island that served as the southern-most military location for the British during the Revolutionary War. The international relations professor understood the military history as a young boy fascinated with toy soldiers. He was also aware of the ever-present news coverage of the Iranian Hostage Crisis in his home.
Professor Vasquez received his B.A. in Political Science and History in 1990 from Mercer University in Macon, GA, where he met his wife Charlotte, who was attending nearby-Wesleyan College. He joined the military in 1991, and served as a Specialist in the U.S. Army for the next four years. His duties took him all over the US and the world, from Colorado to Key West to South Korea. He had a range of duties and said there could be days when he would mop floors in the morning and brief generals in the afternoon. Professor Vasquez left the army and enrolled at Ohio State University in 1995. He received his M.A. in Political Science in1997. He is currently a Ph.D Candidate at the University of Notre Dame and expects to defend his dissertation Politics by Ordinary Means: Democracy, the Social Composition of Militaries and International Conflict later in the year. Professor Vasquez’s interest in the military as a social unit led him to examine how democracies with draft policies and from democracies with volunteer forces differ in they way they wage war. He looked at statistics covering all militarized disputes between 1950 and 1985 as well as WWI & II. Case-studies included America’s conflict in Vietnam, British conflicts in Korea and Falkland, and Australia’s involvement in WWI and in Vietnam. Professor Vasquez found democracies with conscript militaries tended to be more cautious in the way they waged war than democracies with volunteer forces. "Conscription makes part of the [population] that probably wouldn’t be affected otherwise more politically active," Vasquez said. "And it can make those who think the war is going poorly already even more agitated." Professor Vasquez offered an interesting perspective on the role of military power as well. "I think it has a big role to play," Vasquez said of his military and academic background. "It gives me a more balanced view of the military. I think it’s easy to become overly critical or overly engaged in hero worship without serving in the military. The military is a complex institution and can cause a lot of good and a lot of bad. I don’t tend to think of myself as a hawk or a dove but as an owl. There may be reasons that military action or diplomacy may not be the right approach." While at Notre Dame, Professor Vasquez was introduced to Wabash through an email from a professor there. In the month that he’s been on campus, he has been pleased by what he has observed. "The biggest similarity so far between Wabash and Notre Dame is that they attract really good people," Vasquez said. "I’ve enjoyed the faculty so far, and I’m looking forward to interacting with the students. If a bigger school is a mass production arrangement, Wabash is a craft shop. It’s quality above quantity. Wabash provides the environment for quality work. I think Wabash is one of the best kept secrets in college education." Professor Vasquez will be teaching American Foreign Policy (PSC-346) and a special topics course on International Relations Guerrillas in their Midst: Insurgency, Revolution, and Rebellion (PSC-374) in the fall.
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