Benjamin Zala

Benjamin Zala is a Senior Lecturer (Fellow) in the Department of International Relations at the Australian National University's Coral Bell School of Asia and the Pacific. He holds an Honorary Fellowship at the University of Leicester, contributing to the European Research Council-funded 'Towards a Third Nuclear Age' project. He previously served as a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center, and held roles at the Oxford Research Group and Chatham House. His qualifications include a PhD in International Relations from the University of Birmingham (2013) and a Bachelor of International Relations (Honours) from La Trobe University (2006).

His research focuses on great power politics and nuclear weapons governance, with particular attention to historical and contemporary dynamics in the global nuclear order. Key interests include nuclear arms control, strategic stability, and the interplay between conventional and nuclear capabilities. Zala's work has been published in journals like Review of International Studies and Journal of Global Security Studies, and he authored Power in International Society: A Perceptual Approach to Great Power Politics (Oxford University Press, forthcoming) and edited National Perspectives on a Multipolar Order (Manchester University Press, 2021).

Zala's recent scholarship highlights evolving nuclear dynamics in the Indo-Pacific, the implications of emerging technologies like AI for deterrence, and the conceptualization of a 'Third Nuclear Age' marked by multipolarity and non-nuclear strategic competition. His work underscores the need for renewed crisis management frameworks and arms control mechanisms in an increasingly complex global security environment.

He supervises research students in international security topics and has received fellowships recognizing his contributions to nuclear security studies. His research projects often bridge historical analysis with contemporary policy challenges, emphasizing the enduring relevance of great power interactions in shaping international order.