Rate My Professor Muhammet Ali Bas

Muhammet Ali Bas is Associate Professor of Political Science at New York University Abu Dhabi, where he joined in July 2017, and Global Network Associate Professor of Political Science at NYU's Faculty of Arts and Science in New York. Previously, he served as Associate Professor from 2012 to 2017 and Assistant Professor from 2007 to 2012 in the Department of Government at Harvard University. Bas holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Rochester (2007), an M.A. in Political Science from the same institution (2003), and a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University (2001). His research centers on international relations, formal modeling, and political methodology. He examines factors affecting the likelihood of international conflict, including sources of uncertainty in crisis interactions, the emergence and spread of new military technologies particularly nuclear weapons, and changes in the natural environment such as natural disasters and climate change. To address these issues, Bas has developed new statistical methods for modeling strategic interactions, with applications beyond international relations into broader political science.

Bas's publications appear in premier journals including Political Analysis, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, and Climatic Change. Key works include 'Statistical Backwards Induction: A Simple Method for Estimating Recursive Strategic Models' (with Curtis S. Signorino and Robert W. Walker, Political Analysis, 2008), which received the Warren Miller Prize for the best article published in Political Analysis that year; 'Arms Diffusion and War' (with Andrew Coe, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2012); 'A Dynamic Theory of Nuclear Proliferation and Preventive War' (with Andrew Coe, International Organization, 2016); 'Expecting the Unexpected: Disaster Risks and Conflict' (with Elena McLean, Political Research Quarterly, 2020); and 'Regime Uncertainty and International Conflict' (with Omer F. Orsun, International Studies Quarterly, 2021). He has secured grants such as the NYU Abu Dhabi Research Enhancement Fund (2018) and multiple awards from Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. At NYUAD, Bas teaches Introduction to International Politics, Nuclear Politics, Environment and Politics, Data Analysis, and Capstone Seminar. His university service includes chairing Political Science Faculty Search Committees (AY 2020-21, AY 2021-22) and coordinating the Political Science Seminar Series (Fall 2019).