I am a PhD Student in History and Graduate Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin specializing in 20th century US foreign relations, especially vis-á-vis the Middle East and Russia. I am also the lead author of Die in Your Rage: The Logic of Violence in Jihadist Insurgency with Samuel S. Stanton (forthcoming).

A graduate of Kent State University (MA, 2020) and Grove City College (BA, 2018), my MA thesis examined American relations with a group of rejectionist Arabs, known as the Steadfastness and Confrontation Front, during and after the Camp David peace process. Among other things, I argue that the peace process and the coming of the Second Cold War were intimately connected. I hope to continue this project for my dissertation, using Russian- and Arabic-language sources to paint a fuller picture of the transnational and international dimensions of this critical juncture in modern history.

In addition to my historical work, I have also dabbled in political science methods. In addition to my book project on violence in jihadist insurgencies, I am currently drafting an invited policy paper on protecting American bridges, tunnels, and dams from terrorist attacks for Harvard’s Belfer Center. I am also working on several political science and history articles, ranging from proxy wars, to the ethics of coding terrorism data, to the 1961 Freedom Rides, to Anwar al-Sadat. As for my public-facing work, I have bylines at Inkstick, RealClearHistory, and the Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College. You can follow me on Twitter @BenVAllison.

See my curriculum vitae here.