Jennifer Spindel is an assistant professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. Her research focuses on international security, foreign policy, alliances, and civil-military relations. She is particularly interested in questions about power and relationships. For example, how do actors differentiate between friends, allies, and closest friends, and how do they signal commitment to one another? Her research agenda on the arms trade tackles these issues by explaining how the arms trade is a form of signaling in international politics. She also use the arms trade to study diffuse forms of power and core-periphery and patron-client relationships. Her work on civil-military relations examines how perceptions and narratives about the military shape the willingness to use force and support different foreign policy options.
Jen also regularly contributes to policy discussions through media appearances with national and international outlets, and her engaged scholarship has appeared in Foreign Affairs, War on the Rocks, and Defense One, among others. For the 2024-2025 academic year, she is a non-resident fellow with the Institute for Future Conflict at the US Air Force Academy, where she is working on a project about the defense industrial base and the future of warfare.
She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota, and her BA in peace and conflict studies from Colgate University.
