The Department of Political Science at UC Riverside is proud to announce that PhD candidate Miki Hayashi has been awarded the prestigious University of California Dissertation Fellowship from the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC).

Miki’s dissertation examines a critical question in international relations: How does a great power’s economic dependence on a rival state shape its security alliances with less powerful third parties? Her research challenges the conventional dyadic focus of capitalist theory by exploring how economic integration between adversarial states reverberates through their other strategic relationships. Using a mixed-method approach—including game theory, statistical modeling, and detailed case studies—she finds that bilateral trade can undermine third-party alliances when reliance on a rival increases the costs of maintaining security cooperation with smaller allies.

Beyond her dissertation, Miki has contributed to research on how China’s rise has influenced the U.S.–Japan security alliance, drawing on a novel dataset to provide new insights into alliance politics in East Asia. She holds an M.A. in political science from UC Riverside and California State University, Los Angeles.

The UC Dissertation Fellowship is IGCC’s oldest program, created in 1984 to bolster the capabilities of the next generation of engaged scholars and peacemakers. This competitive fellowship provides grants and mentorship to UC doctoral students whose research aligns with current global security priorities and IGCC’s mission and core themes. Fellows are selected not only for their scholarly contributions, but also for their interest in engaging beyond academia. IGCC supports them with opportunities to publish outward-facing, policy-relevant research and to connect with decision-makers through its Washington, D.C. office. To date, IGCC has awarded more than $6 million to 566 UC doctoral students, fostering intercampus collaboration, mentorship, and interdisciplinary exchange.

Miki’s fellowship will place her within a vibrant, multidisciplinary network of scholars from across the UC system and the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. IGCC’s work spans traditional and emerging security challenges, from nuclear deterrence and great power competition to climate change and threats to democracy. Based at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego, IGCC builds diverse research teams to analyze the causes and consequences of global conflict—and to develop practical solutions.

Miki’s research on the intersection of economic interdependence and alliance politics reflects IGCC’s mission to produce rigorous, policy-relevant scholarship that addresses the complex, interconnected challenges shaping the global security environment. Her work promises to advance both academic understanding and practical insights into the stability of international alliances in an era of growing geopolitical competition.