PhD Candidate, Political Science

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Sam Gerstle is a Ph.D. student in political science who studies international security and comparative politics. His dissertation project examines industrial mobilization for war, or why some countries are more efficient at generating military power from economic resources in wartime. He has a regional focus on East Asia and has worked in various capacities on Japanese and East Asian security policy for over a decade. To learn more about Gerstle’s research and publications, visit his webpage.

In Spring 2025, Sam received a CISS Summer mini-grant to support his dissertation which examines how countries mobilize their economies during wartime and investigates why their approaches differ. The dissertation assesses the consequences of these choices for international relations. Learn more in our featured article.