Friday, March 20, 2026
Benjamin V. Allison
Benjamin V. Allison is a PhD Candidate and Assistant Instructor in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin
When did you first develop an interest in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies?
My interest in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies came from two sources, both as an undergraduate at Grove City College. First, I developed a general interest in the Cold War, which naturally led to curiosity about Soviet and Russian history. Second, I began conducting research on Middle East politics, with particular attention to a group of Soviet-backed Arab states that opposed the Egyptian-Israeli peace process of the late 1970s. These twin interests became clearer the further I got into my education at Kent State University for my MA and the University of Texas at Austin for my PhD.
What is your current research/work project?
My current project, Through the Cracks of Détente: The End of the Cold War in the Middle East, examines how the Cold War concluded, as one scholar put it, “a decade early” in the Near East. Drawing on sources in Arabic, Russian, and Bulgarian, I argue that the diplomatic struggle over the Egyptian-Israeli peace process reignited the Cold War in the region. The response to the peace process, however, also created the forces that redivided the Arab states into different camps, triggering what I call a “Second Arab Cold War” (the first was 1958–70). With the Arab-Israeliconflict now frozen due to the Arab states’ disunity and resultant inability to pressure Israel militarily, the Global Cold War left the region, deprived of the conflict onto which it had so easily, yet unevenly, mapped.
In so doing, I improve our understanding of the collapse of superpower détente by highlighting the overlooked role of the Middle East in that process. Second, I provide the first archives-based history of Soviet policy toward the Arab world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Third, I use a blend of Arab, Eastern European, and Western sources to uncover the often-opaque details of inter-Arab politics. Finally, I enlarge our view of the securitization of American policy toward the region by examining elements that are typically ignored in favor of other events like the Egyptian-Israelinegotiations and the Iranian Revolution, with a particular focus on US-Arab relations.
Tell us about your most interesting/enjoyable research or work experience.
The most interesting must be my time in Sofia, Bulgaria, at the Central State Archive, where I spent three months in early 2024 working through reams of documents on Bulgaria’s relations with the Middle East. I scanned over 17,000 pages of documents. They have been invaluable to my work, offering previously-untapped insights from the Arab world, captured in Bulgarian memoranda of conversation, reports, etc.; they are similarly useful for getting candid summaries of Soviet policy from mid- and high-level Soviet officials in conversation with their Bulgarian counterparts. These documents are an imperfect source, but a very important one for getting around archival constraints in Russia and (especially) the Arab world. In regard to the latter, I build on the work of scholars like Margaret Peacock, Jeff Byrne, Guy Laron, Lorenz Lüthi, Milorad Lazic, and others.
What do you value about your ASEEES membership?
The community I’ve encountered at ASEEES’s annual convention has been extraordinary. It’s so encouraging to meet with people doing work close to mine, and it’s incredibly energizing to see and hear what other folks are doing that have no connection whatsoever to my own research.
Besides your professional work, what other interests and/or hobbies do you enjoy?
I’m a huge Boston sports fan, so I’m always keeping up with what my favorite teams are doing. Beyond my historical work, I also do a fair bit on contemporary conflict, particularly involving nonstate actors.