Deli Yang

Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

On the 2026–27 academic job market.

I study how governments and armed groups manage conflict and build peaceful relations.

My research examines what adversaries can accomplish through diplomatic steps they take on their own, and why efforts to improve relations sometimes backfire. This work contributes to the study of conflict, international security, and foreign policy. I combine original data with survey experiments, with a regional focus on East Asia.

Three revise and resubmits
International Studies Quarterly Journal of Peace Research Journal of Conflict Resolution
M.S. in Statistics
University of Illinois
FLEX Teaching Award
University of Illinois

Selected research

Making Peace by Making Amends?

International Apologies and Unilateral Conciliation

Job market paper. Under review.

Can one side improve relations without first securing its adversary’s cooperation, or can taking the first step backfire? I examine this question through international apologies, combining original data with a survey experiment in Vietnam. Relations between rivals improve less often following these gestures than in similar cases without them. The experiment finds that the same gesture increases public support for closer relations when offered by a non-rival but not by a rival. These findings suggest that unilateral conciliation may depend on an earlier easing of hostility, limiting its potential to begin cooperation between adversaries.

View research

Steps of Rapprochement

Do International Apologies Initiate or Follow Peace?

Revise and resubmit.

The Strategic Value of “Sorry”

How Rebel Apologies Restrain Government Violence in Civil War

With Alyssa Prorok. Revise and resubmit.

Managing Conflict by Saying Sorry

Introducing the Rebel Apology Dataset

With Alyssa Prorok. Revise and resubmit.

Research agenda

Reconciliation and conflict resolution

I study how adversaries move from conflict toward cooperation, with particular attention to unilateral gestures, the contexts in which they are used, and their timing in a changing relationship.

Diplomacy and foreign public opinion

I examine how governments use different public-diplomacy tools to shape foreign public opinion, and why the same gesture can be received very differently across countries and relationships.

International cooperation and backsliding

I study why some improvements in interstate relations become durable while others unravel, and what pulls relationships backward.

Teaching

I designed and taught Global Conflict Resolution at the University of Illinois and have independently taught statistical analysis workshops since 2022.

Courses and syllabus
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Research

Publications and working papers on conflict, diplomacy, and international cooperation.

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Teaching

International relations, conflict resolution, and quantitative methods.

Teaching experience

Spring 2026

Global Conflict Resolution

University of Illinois, Center for Global Studies

Instructor of record. Course designed and taught independently.

Syllabus (PDF)
2022–present

Statistical Analysis Workshops

University of Illinois, Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning

Independent instructor. Four workshops per semester across nine semesters.

Spring 2025

Introduction to International Relations

University of Illinois, Department of Political Science

Teaching assistant and guest lecturer on conflict resolution.

Spring 2025

International Law

University of Illinois, Department of Political Science

Teaching assistant.

Spring 2022

The U.S. Constitution II

University of Illinois, Department of Political Science

Teaching assistant.

Prepared to teach

  • International Relations
  • International Security
  • Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation
  • International Cooperation and Institutions
  • Foreign Policy Analysis
  • American Foreign Policy
  • International Law
  • East Asian International Relations
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Survey Research and Experiments