Tanisha Fazal is an American political scientist and academic specializing in international relations, international law, and the dynamics of armed conflict. She is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, renowned for her research on the laws of war, wartime healthcare, and the historical phenomenon of "state death" – the disappearance of states through conquest, occupation, or annexation.
Biography and Career Tanisha Fazal earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She subsequently held academic positions, including at the University of Notre Dame, before joining the faculty at the University of Minnesota. As a Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, she contributes significantly to the department's program in International Relations and her work spans the fields of security studies, international law, and international relations theory.
Fazal's scholarship is characterized by its rigorous empirical analysis, often employing both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine historical data related to warfare and state interactions. Her research endeavors to understand how international norms and institutions shape the behavior of states during conflict and how the regulation of warfare evolves over time.
Key Research Areas and Contributions
- State Death: In her highly influential book, State Death: The Politics and Geography of Conquest, Occupation, and Annexation (2007), Fazal explores the historical patterns of how states cease to exist. She argues that the dramatic decline in instances of state death since the mid-20th century is primarily attributable to the strengthening of international norms and institutions that protect state sovereignty, making it increasingly difficult for states to be legitimately extinguished through military conquest or other means.
- Laws of War and Wartime Healthcare: Her later work, particularly Wars of Law: Unintended Consequences in the Regulation of Armed Conflict (2018), investigates the impact of international humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the laws of war, on state behavior during armed conflict. She examines how legal regulations governing the treatment of combatants and civilians, the use of specific weapons, and the provision of healthcare in wartime influence military strategies and practices. Fazal posits that while IHL aims to mitigate suffering, it can also produce unintended consequences, such as increasing the economic and logistical costs of war for belligerents. Her research in this area often highlights the complex and sometimes paradoxical effects of attempting to regulate violence.
- The Cost of War: Fazal's work also addresses the broader costs of war, encompassing not only direct military expenditures and casualties but also the long-term societal and political impacts of armed conflict.
Awards and Recognition Tanisha Fazal has received numerous prestigious awards and fellowships for her scholarly contributions, including:
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
- Carnegie Corporation of New York Fellowship
- International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for State Death
- J. David Singer Book Award from the International Studies Association for Wars of Law
Selected Publications
- Fazal, Tanisha M. State Death: The Politics and Geography of Conquest, Occupation, and Annexation. Princeton University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0691134015
- Fazal, Tanisha M. Wars of Law: Unintended Consequences in the Regulation of Armed Conflict. Cornell University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-1501719266
- Fazal, Tanisha M. "Dead Wrong? Battle Deaths, Military Medicine, and the Laws of War." International Security, vol. 39, no. 1, 2014, pp. 116-141.
- Fazal, Tanisha M. "Why States No Longer Die." International Organization, vol. 57, no. 3, 2003, pp. 609-643.