Benjamin V. Allison
Professional affiliation
Benjamin V. Allison is a PhD student in history at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the history of US foreign and national security policy, especially toward the Middle East and Russia.
Full Biography
Benjamin V. Allison is a PhD student in history at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the history of US foreign and national security policy, especially toward the Middle East and Russia. A graduate of Kent State University (MA, 2020) and Grove City College (BA, 2018), Ben’s 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, he argues that the peace process and the coming of the Second Cold War were intimately connected. Ben hopes to continue this project for his 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 his historical work, Ben has also dabbled in political science methods. He is currently drafting an invited policy paper on protecting American bridges, tunnels, and dams from terrorist attacks for Harvard’s Belfer Center, and is the lead author (with Samuel S. Stanton, Jr.) of a forthcoming monograph on the use of violence in jihadist insurgencies. His first scholarly article, on the ethics and politics of terrorism data, was published in the April 2021 issue of Perspectives on Terrorism. As for his public-facing work, he has bylines at Inkstick, RealClearHistory, and the Institute for Faith & Freedom at Grove City College. You can follow him on Twitter @BenVAllison.
