Benjamin Denison

Benjamin Denison

Non-Resident Fellow

Areas of expertise: counterinsurgency, diplomacy, Europe, grand strategy, great power competition, regime change, U.S. foreign policy, military occupation, military intervention, post-war planning, stability operations, and former Yugoslavia

To request an interview, accredited media can email press@defensepriorities.org.

Benjamin Denison is a non-resident fellow at Defense Priorities. He is an expert in international security and U.S. foreign policy with a PhD from the University of Notre Dame. He has held previous research positions at Dartmouth College, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and with the Notre Dame International Security Center. His work has been published in Survival, The Washington Post, The National Interest, War on the Rocks, and many other academic and policy outlets.

Research and writing

Featured
Bases, logistics, and the problem of temptation in the Middle East
Bases, logistics, and the problem of temptation in the Middle East

The ability to respond rapidly to global trouble sounds good, but it can tempt policymakers to intervene militarily even for non-vital interests. U.S. military bases and logistics hubs in and near the Middle East are the primary examples of this—they make foolish wars too easy to start. Closing bases will therefore make wars more difficult to start, spur public debate about potential interventions, and give diplomacy an opportunity to return as the primary policy option.

The folly of a democracy-based grand strategy
The folly of a democracy-based grand strategy

Making democracy promotion abroad a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy is a mistake that counterintuitively harms the ability to spread democracy and advance U.S. interests. China, Russia, and other non-democracies—informed by years of U.S. military and non-military actions—view democracy promotion and regime change as linked threats to regime security. Promoting democracy, outside of serving as an exemplar, is counterproductive since regimes often respond to this outside pressure by suppressing democracy at home and aggressing against U.S. interests.