Alden Young

Alden Young serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and holds a faculty position in the International Development Studies program under the UCLA International Institute. His scholarly work centers on African political and economic history, with specialized focus on Sudan and the Red Sea region, examining how African actors shaped the modern international order through historical state formation and economic development processes.

Young's research interests span decolonization, state formation, and international relations in Africa, particularly investigating Sudanese intellectual and business engagements with the Arab Gulf since the 1970s. His scholarship explores post-partition conflicts in the Horn of Africa (Sudan-South Sudan, Ethiopia-Eritrea), East African federalist ideas, and the Red Sea as an integrated historical region. Methodologically, he combines archival research with extensive fieldwork across Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Jordan, and the UAE to analyze economic planning, national accounting systems, and political economy in postcolonial contexts.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals consistent thematic focus on Sudanese historical statecraft, with increasing attention to the Red Sea region as a transnational analytical framework. His work demonstrates interdisciplinary integration of economic history, political science, and African studies, particularly examining how quantification practices and economic planning shaped postcolonial state formation.

Young's scholarly recognition includes:

• Non-resident fellowship at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
• Membership in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, 2019-2020)
• Social Science Research Council grant for Red Sea regional conceptualization project with NYU Abu Dhabi's Nathalie Puetz

As an active public intellectual, Young contributes frequently to Al Jazeera, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. His current collaborative projects include research on Horn of Africa partition conflicts with political scientist Michael Woldemariam and studies of East African federalist thought. While not directing a formal laboratory, his work operates through international scholarly networks connecting African history, political economy, and Middle Eastern studies.