Benjamin MacQueen

Dr Benjamin MacQueen is a Senior Lecturer and Convenor of the Department of Politics and International Relations in the School of Social Sciences. His research has focussed on the conditions of political transition in the Middle East and North Africa, with an emphasis on the impacts of external parties, constitutional formation, and electoral law reform on local political participation. He is the Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project (DP130100933) ‘Elections and Enhancing Political Participation in Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq’ (2013-2015). Dr MacQueen is currently working on a project examining the impacts of mass refugee influx related to the Syrian conflict, focussing on the political, social, economic, legal, and environmental ramifications of these events in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq.

Dr MacQueen has published 5 books as well as a range of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including publications in Cooperation and Conflict, Middle East Policy, the Australian Journal of Political Science, and the Australian Journal of Internatinal Affairs. He is also a regular media commentator on Middle Eastern and North African politics, appearing on both television and radio in Australia (ABC TV and Radio, SBS TV and Radio, 3AW Radio Melbourne, 2GB Radio Sydney, 2SER Radio Sydney, Radio Adelaide, Triple J Radio, and 3RRR Radio Melbourne) and overseas (France 24, Voice of America Radio, Radio Singapore International, and Bloomberg Asia Television).

He previously served as an Australian Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne examining US Democracy Promotion policy in the Middle East and North Africa as part of the Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project (DP0770266) ‘Democratising the Middle East: Implications of Washington’s Policies’.