Ches Thurber

Dr. Ches Thurber is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University. He specializes in international security, civil resistance, and contentious politics, bridging rigorous quantitative methods with rich qualitative fieldwork.

Research Interests

• Civil Resistance & Nonviolent Movements – investigating why and how groups choose nonviolent strategies over armed rebellion.
• International Security & Armed Conflict – analyzing the dynamics of insurgency, terrorism, and state responses.
• Civil-Military Relations – exploring the role of ethnicity and identity within security forces.
• Global Governance & Peace-building – assessing institutions that mitigate or exacerbate conflict.
• Mixed Methods – integrating large-N datasets with archival and interview-based evidence.

Across more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles and a 2021 Cambridge University Press monograph, Between Mao and Gandhi: The Social Roots of Civil Resistance, Thurber demonstrates how social structures shape strategic choices between violence and nonviolence. His recent work (2024-2025) extends this agenda to examine how civil resistance fosters inclusive democracy and how external powers (India and China) influence local contention in Nepal.

Scientific Awards & Recognition

• While no specific awards are listed in the provided text, Thurber’s book and articles appear in top-tier journals such as International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, and Conflict Management and Peace Science, signaling strong scholarly impact.

Teaching & Student Engagement

• Undergraduate courses: POLS 285 (Introduction to International Relations), POLS 382 (Topics in Contemporary Security), POLS 387 (International Security), POLS 389 (International Law and Organizations).
• Graduate courses: POLS 641 & 642 (Introductory and Intermediate Political Data Analysis), POLS 681 (International Security), POLS 689 (Conflict Management and Processes).

Laboratory & Research Infrastructure

Dr. Thurber is affiliated with the Security-Force Ethnicity (SFE) Project, a data-collection initiative that introduces new quantitative resources for studying civil-military relations and ethnic composition of security forces worldwide. While no formal lab website is mentioned, the SFE dataset underpins several of his publications.