Ches Thurber

Assistant Professor

NIU Political Science

Dr. Ches Thurber is a political scientist who studies global conflict, security, and contentious politics. His research has been published in International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Global Security Studies, Conflict Management and Peace Science, and other journals. Dr. Thurber is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University. He previously held research appointments at the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism at the University of Chicago and at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He received his Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and his B.A. from Middlebury College.

Interests

Contentious Politics
Conflict and Peace
International Security
Security Institutions
Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods

Education

PhD | Tufts University, 2015

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
MALD | Tufts University, 2010

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
BA | Middlebury College, 2004

Book

Ches Thurber, Book Manuscript

July 2019

Between Gandhi and Mao: The Social Roots of Civil Resistance

Why are some groups able to adopt and sustain a strategy of nonviolent civil resistance while others are either unwilling or unable to do so? Drawing on cases from Nepal and Syria, as well as global cross-national data, the book details the processes through which challenger organizations collect information, deliberate, and decide on whether a strategy of exclusively nonviolent resistance may be viable. I develop a relational theory, showing how the social ties that underpin challenger organizations shape their ability and willingness to attempt regime change using nonviolent means alone.