About Me

Hello! Thank you for visiting my website. I am an Assistant Professor and the Director of Research at The Modern War Institute at West Point. From 2018-2020, I taught classes on international relations and grand strategy in the Department of Social Sciences, where I was the Executive Director of the Rupert H. Johnson Grand Strategy Program. My academic interests encompass both international relations and comparative politics, but the underlying theme of my research agenda is the question “how do different military policies affect states and the people who live in them?” My additional areas of interests include military strategy and conflict, civil wars, civil-military relations, and state formation.

​Originally from Connecticut, I went to McGill University in Montréal to receive my BA (in Political Science) and completed my PhD in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. I now live in Highland Falls, NY--which I am enjoying considerably more than Samuel Huntington's closing pages of The Soldier and the State led me to expect I would. When not doing research or teaching, I enjoy playing tennis, keeping my cats away from my food, and reading. You can reach me at max.margulies@westpoint.edu or on twitter @mzmargulies.