About Dr. Lustick

Ian S. Lustick is Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania where he holds the Bess W. Heyman Chair. Professor Lustick's books include Trapped in the War on Terror (2006); Exile and Return: Predicaments of Palestinians and Jews (2005); Unsettled States, Disputed Lands: Britain and Ireland, France and Algeria, Israel and the West Bank and Gaza (1993); Right-Sizing the State: The Politics of Moving Borders (2001); Arabs in the Jewish State: Israel’s Control of a National Minority (1980); and For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel (1994).

Dr. Lustick's articles on ethnic conflict, Middle East politics, American foreign policy, social science methodology, and organization theory have appeared in many journals, including World Politics, International Organization, American Political Science Review, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy, Israel Studies, Journal of Palestine Studies, and The Cornell International Law Journal.

He is a founder and past President of the Association for Israel Studies, and a former President of the Politics and History Section of the American Political Science Association. He is the originator of the PS-I computational modeling platform and a leader in the application of agent-based modeling techniques to problems in the social sciences. In 1979-80 Dr. Lustick worked as a Middle East analyst in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Since then he has been consulted on Middle East affairs, foreign policy, and intelligence techniques by every administration, including projects, lectures, and consultancies for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security, National Security Agency, and National Security Council.

His current research focuses on aspects of the long-term dynamics of the Israeli-Arab conflict as well as development and applications of agent-based modeling techniques to the solution of problems pertaining to identitarian conflict, political cascades, and political violence. Professor Lustick has received support for his research from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the United States Institute of Peace.

He is a member of the American Political Science Association, the Middle East Studies Association, the Association for Israel Studies, and the Council on Foreign Relations.