Cole Bunzel

Cole Bunzel is a historian and Arabist at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and editor of the blog Jihadica. His scholarship focuses on the history and contemporary affairs of the Islamic Middle East, particularly violent Islamism and the Arabian Peninsula.

• Education: PhD and BA in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University; MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS.
• Research: Specializes in Wahhabism, Sunni jihadism, Islamic theology, and Saudi political reforms. Recent projects analyze Saudi Arabia’s historical narrative revision under MBS and the ideological evolution of groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
• Awards: Recipient of the Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship (Princeton’s top graduate honor) and the Bayard and Cleveland Dodge Memorial Dissertation Prize.
• Affiliations: Nonresident Fellow at George Washington University Program on Extremism; previously a research fellow at Yale Law School’s Abdallah S. Kamel Center.

Publications include monographs on the Islamic State’s ideology and a groundbreaking 2023 book on Wahhabism. His articles explore jihadi reactions to U.S. policy, Saudi-Israel normalization, and the theological roots of extremism. He frequently contributes to outlets like Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy.

Scientific Awards

• Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship (Princeton University)
• Bayard and Cleveland Dodge Memorial Dissertation Prize (Princeton University)