Professional Affiliation

Assistant Professor, University of Chicago

Expert Bio

Austin Carson is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. His first book, Secret Wars: Covert Conflict in International Politics (Princeton UP 2018), analyzes puzzling secrecy patterns that arise when outside powers intervene in foreign wars. The book develops a theory based on conflict escalation dynamics, showing that states use covert intervention and conceal others’ covert activity to keep war limited. His second book project, in collaboration with Allison Carnegie (Columbia), analyzes the role of sensitive information and secrecy in international organizations. His work has been published or is forthcoming in International Organization, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and Security Studies. He received his PhD from Ohio State in 2013.

Wilson Center Project

"Covert Competition: Escalation Management and Rollback in the Cold War"

Project Summary

Soviet-American competition took places on two planes: the overt, publicly acknowledged realm of official foreign relations and shadowy, concealed realm of covert foreign assistance, espionage, and subversion. While a handful of specific episodes like the Bay of Pigs have received significant attention, historians and political scientists alike sorely lack rigorous comparative studies - transcending individual episodes to begin to understand broader underlying patterns and qualities - of Cold War competition on the covert plane. The project will both fill important gaps in the scholarly understanding of the Cold War and provide new contributions to recent policy debates about the role and dangers of covert competitions today.