Her primary research focuses on international relations, with a focus on global power politics. Her most recent book, When Right Makes Might: Rising Powers and World Order, asks why it is that some great powers accommodate rising powers in international politics, while containing and confronting others. Other research examines why some rising powers are able to reform international institutions while others fail; why statecraft has changed over time; and why some territories are negotiable, while others are treated as indivisible. She has also contributed to Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.
Along with introductory courses to world politics and international security, Stacie teaches advanced lecture courses on technology and war, including a course on nuclear politics. She also offers a seminar that explores the rise and fall of great powers. In general, she believes that understanding issues of war and peace is vital to educating global citizens, and designs her courses to show how theory can be used to address global challenges.
Outside of Wellesley, she is a series editor for Columbia University Press. She also enjoys choral singing and is an avid hiker and backpacker, so she's always looking for new trails to explore with her husband and two daughters.