Welcome, 欢迎, أهلاً وسهلاً!
I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. I completed my Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in summer 2026.
My research explores international relations and comparative politics, with particular interests in great power competition, foreign policy, international security, and political economy. Empirically, I examine how Middle Eastern countries navigate U.S.–China competition, including its economic, technological, AI, energy, and arms sales areas.
My dissertation contributes to the literature by developing three original concepts to explain variation in Middle Eastern states’ foreign policy behavior amid this competition: indirect bandwagoning, tri-alignment, and capability maximization. I demonstrate these concepts through three case studies. The Jordan case, which is based on original interviews conducted in Amman in summer 2024, has been published in Foreign Policy Analysis and Asian Perspective. I demonstrate tri-alignment through the Bahrain case and capability maximization through the Saudi Arabia case study.
In addition to my dissertation work, I study Chinese Strategic Partnerships (CSPs). I published a paper titled “Where to Throw the Hook? Chinese Strategic Partnership Selection and Its Effectiveness” in Chinese Political Science Review, with the original dataset available on the Harvard Datavers.
Prior to joining UT Knoxville, I earned an M.A. in Diplomatic Studies and a B.A. in Chinese and English Languages at the University of Jordan. I also worked for four years at the Chinese Embassy in Amman, an experience that sparked my interest in exploring China’s growing influence in the region and its interaction with the longstanding presence of the United States.
Feel free to reach me at: dabuhalt@vols.utk.edu
