I am Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and a Research Director at the Transition Accelerator. I work on the history and theory of international order, the political economy of decarbonization, global environmental politics, science and politics, and qualitative methods.
The focus of my pre-tenure research was the role of ideas in the history of international order and international institutions. This work placed security, economic, and environmental policy in long-term perspective to explain how and why the problems and purposes of global politics were constituted in specific ways.
My current work goes beyond this to develop a political-economic approach to global climate politics. In parallel, I am pursuing a program of engaged research in support of climate action. This program seeks to catalyze collaborations between governments, firms, civil society, and experts to co-develop and co-deploy transition pathways.
Policy research
International Best Practices for Industrial Policy
Clean Energy Supply Chains: Resources and Strategies for Scaling Climate Technology
Friendshoring Critical Minerals: What could the U.S. and key partners produce? [working paper]
Academic Research
Current Book Project
Climate Formations: Nature, Knowledge, and Geopolitics in the History of Climate Politics (book manuscript)
Publications
Books
Scientific Cosmology and International Orders (Cambridge Studies in International Relations, Cambridge University Press, 2018) More information Excerpt
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Bentley Allan, Joanna Lewis, and Thomas Oatley. Forthcoming. Green Industrial Policy and the Global Transformation of Climate Politics. Global Environmental Politics Vol. 21, SI. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00640; Preprint
Bentley B. Allan and Jonas Meckling. 2021. Creative Learning and Policy Ideas: The Global Rise of Green Growth. Perspectives on Politics. First View. Journal Page
“The Evolution of Ideas in Global Climate Policy,” with Jonas Meckling. Nature Climate Change Vol. 10 (2020): 432-438. Free Read-only Version; Journal Page
"Paradigm and Nexus: Neoclassical Economics and the Growth Imperative in the World Bank, 1948-2000." Review of International Political Economy Journal Page
"The Distribution of Identity and the Future of International Order: China's Hegemonic Prospects," with Srdjan Vucetic and Ted Hopf. International Organization Vol. 72, No. 4 (Winter 2018). PDF Journal Page
"From Subjects to Objects: Knowledge in Anglo-American International Relations Theory" European Journal of International Relations, FirstView. PDF Journal Page
"Second Only to Nuclear War: Science and the Making of Existential Threat in Global Climate Governance" International Studies Quarterly Vol. 61, No. 4 (December 2017): 809-820. PDF Journal Page
"Producing the Climate: States, Scientists, and the Constitution of Global Governance Objects" International Organization Vol. 71, No. 1 (Winter 2017): 131-162. PDF Journal Page
Edited Volumes and Chapters
Making Identity Count: Building a National Identity Database, Co-editor with Ted Hopf (Oxford University Press, 2016) Amazon
"A Method for Uncovering National Identity." In Ted Hopf and Bentley B. Allan, eds. Making It Count: Building a National Identity Database (Oxford University Press, 2016).
"What Have We Learned," with Ted Hopf. In Ted Hopf and Bentley B. Allan, eds. Making It Count: Building a National Identity Database (Oxford University Press, 2016).