Thompson has research interests in the area of international relations, with a particular emphasis on the politics of international organizations and law. His book, Channels of Power: The UN Security Council and U.S. Statecraft in Iraq (Cornell University Press), explores why the United States sometimes channels its foreign policies through international organizations and other times acts alone. Channels of Power has won two awards, the International Studies Association’s Chadwick Alger Prize and the J. David Singer Book Award from ISA-Midwest.