Area of Expertise

Foreign fighters, terrorism, homeland security, Congress, US elections, bioterrorism, military biotechnology

Additional Information

David Malet’s teaching and research focuses on transnational militant groups, terrorism, US national security policy, the US Congress and elections, and military use of biotechnology. He has been researching foreign fighters since 2005 and is the author of Foreign Fighters: Transnational Identity in Civil Conflicts (Oxford University Press, 2013). He is also co-editor of Transnational Actors in War and Peace: Militants, Activists, and Corporations in World Politics (Georgetown University Press, 2017). His second book, Biotechnology and International Security (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016), explores how human enhancement, genetic weapons and other emerging technologies will influence the future of terrorism, warfare and international peace. His interest in military applications of biotech stems from his experience working in the congressional office that was the target of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Prof. Malet regularly consults on radicalization and the threats posed by foreign fighters and returnees for organizations including the US Department of State, the UK Foreign Ministry, the UAE Ministry of Youth and Culture, and Australian law enforcement agencies. His work has been published in outlets including Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, TIME, Terrorism and Political Violence, The Journal of Homeland Security Management, Orbis, and Defence Studies. He provides analysis of US politics and international security to media including NPR, CNN, CBC, ABC, CNBC, Bloomberg Europe, Bloomberg Asia, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and Xinhua.