Shaoshuang Wen successfully defended his dissertation titled "Interstate Rivalry, Domestic Politics, and Economic Coercion" on June 22, 2021. The dissertation reconsiders sanctions use and sanctions effectiveness by looking into the international environment and domestic politics, establishing an empirical link between conflictual interstate relationships and sanctions. In the dissertation, Wen finds that ongoing interstate rivalry with third states invites sanctions. He also demonstrates the negative effect of the target's third-party rivals on target acquiescence following sanctions.

The committee members were Timothy M. Peterson (chair), Katherine Barbieri, Chelsea Estancona, Matthew Charles Wilson, and Dursun Peksen (from the University of Memphis).

Wen has accepted a Visiting Assistant Professor in International Relations position at Colgate University starting in Fall 2021.