Experts

Dale Copeland

Faculty Senior Fellow

Fast Facts

  • Professor of international affairs, University of Virginia Department of Politics
  • Recipient of numerous awards, including MacArthur and Mellon Fellowships and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
  • Expertise in international relations, international economics, security studies, political economy 

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • War and Terrorism
  • Economic Issues

Dale Copeland, faculty senior fellow, is professor of international affairs in the UVA Department of Politics. A graduate of Queen’s University (B. Comm), Johns Hopkins (MA), and the University of Chicago (PhD), Copeland specializes in security studies and political economy. He is the author of many publications, including Economic Interdependence and War, which examines the conditions under which inter-state trade will lead to either war or peace and won the 2017 Best Book Award of the International Studies Association. He is also the author of The Origins of Major War, which studies the rise and fall of great world powers and the devastation of system-wide war. Other research interests include the origins of economic interdependence between great powers, the realist-constructivist divide, in-group/out-group theory and the logic of reputation-building, and the interconnection between international political economy and security studies.

Copeland is the recipient of numerous awards, including MacArthur and Mellon fellowships and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University.

His latest book is A World Safe for Commerce: American Foreign Policy from the Revolution to the Rise of China.

Featured Publications

World safe for commerce
A World Safe for Commerce

Dale Copeland

Economic Interdependence
Economic Interdependence and War

Dale Copeland

Origins of Major War
The Origins of Major War

Dale Copeland

Dale Copeland News Feed

The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775. Painting by John Trumbull.
The war(s) for economic security
Throughout the nation’s history, the U.S. has waged wars to protect its commercial interests
Dale Copeland
boat on sea
How commerce shapes foreign policy
Trade plays a fundamental role in driving the foreign policies of great powers
Dale Copeland
The economist headline
What will be the bestsellers in the coming year?
In 2024, geopolitics will dominate publishers’ frontlists.
Dale Copeland The Economist
screenshot of article headline and photograph of President Biden
U.S. must avoid turning China chip war into hot war
The risk is that Beijing comes to believe it faces economic decline, writes Dale Copeland, faculty senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.
Dale Copeland Nikkei Asia
screenshot of NY Times headline and image of two wafers containing silicon chips at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute in Hsinchu.
How silicon chips rule the world
Dale C. Copeland, a professor of international relations at the University of Virginia and faculty senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, writes about China's capabilities in a recent article published in Foreign Affairs.
Dale Copeland New York Times
image of US and China flags on computer chips
When trade leads to war
China and Russia show the limits of interdependence, writes Senior Fellow Dale Copeland.
Dale Copeland Foreign Affairs