Matthew A. Baum is Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communications and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. His research focuses on delineating the effects of domestic politics on international conflict and cooperation in general and American foreign policy in particular, as well as on the role of the mass media and public opinion in contemporary American politics. His research has appeared in over a dozen leading scholarly journals, such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, and Journal of Politics. His books include Soft News Goes to War: Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy in the New Media Age and War Stories: The Causes and Consequences of Public Views of War (Forthcoming 2009, Princeton University Press). He has also contributed op/ed articles to a variety of newspapers and magazines in the United States and abroad. Before coming to Harvard, Baum was associate professor of political science and communication studies at UCLA. Baum received his PhD in political science at UC San Diego in 2000.