The New Cold War, the Middle East, and the Future of History

Benjamin Allison is a PhD student in History and a 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. He is the lead author of the forthcoming book Die in Your Rage: The Logic of Violence in Jihadist Insurgency with Samuel S. Stanton.

A graduate of Kent State University, his master’s 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. He argues that the peace process and the coming of the Second Cold War were intimately connected, and hopes to continue this research 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.

*Originally recorded on March 17, 2022.