✉ michaelaallen@boisestate.edu 📄 Curriculum Vitae 🏛 Boise State Faculty Page Google Scholar ORCID Bluesky

I am a professor of international relations in the School of Public Service at Boise State University.

I have taught at Boise State since 2012.

My research focuses on asymmetric interactions in international relations, including interstate war, civil conflict, terrorism, U.S. foreign policy, bargaining, hegemony, and international political economy, whether between states or non-states.

One of my primary areas of focus is the positive and negative externalities of US troop deployments overseas. I teach courses on international relations, comparative foreign policy, US foreign policy, civil war, terrorism, research and quantitative methodology, and game theory.

My office is room 5125 on the 5th floor of the Environmental Research Building at Boise State University.

U.S. Troop Deployments Overseas 1950–2025. Data from: Allen, Michael A., Michael Flynn, Carla Martinez Machain. 2022. “U.S. Global Military Deployments, 1950–2020.” Conflict Management and Peace Science. Volume 39, Issue 3.

The Gamer’s Guide to International Relations (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025)

Ready Player One meets Foreign Affairs — everything your students need to know about international relations through the lens of video games. From World of Warcraft and League of Legends to Minecraft and Fortnite, this book shows how popular games illuminate real-world political dynamics and strategy.

“Should you cooperate with allies, or confront your adversaries? The Gamer’s Guide shows how some of the most popular games are great teachers of international relations and represent real-world political dynamics and strategy. It’s sure to be an exciting read for political scientists and gamers alike!” — Oliver Kaplan, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

“Michael Allen provides an incredibly comprehensive and highly accessible overview of international relations topics. Seamlessly blending insights from gaming and historical examples, this book will help readers better understand some of the most important issues and concepts in international relations. It’s incredibly informative, but also incredibly fun to read.” — Michael Flynn, Kansas State University

Beyond the Wire: US Military Deployments and Host Country Public Opinion (Oxford University Press, Bridging the Gap series)

An examination of the positive and negative externalities of US military deployments overseas and how host country populations respond to the American military presence. Part of the Oxford University Press Bridging the Gap series, connecting academic research to policy audiences.

“Beyond the Wire is the most ambitious study to date examining the politics of overseas U.S. military deployments. Drawing on an impressive fourteen country survey and in-depth interviews across three continents, the authors unpack when and how host nations give consent or resist U.S. military presence. Their findings carry deep implications for global hierarchy and the liberal international order.” — Andrew Yeo, SK-Korea Foundation Chair and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, and Professor of Politics, The Catholic University of America

“Beyond the Wire offers an illuminating and innovative take on the topic of societal-military relations — on those between individual soldiers based overseas and the communities that host them. The book shows how the character of interactions between foreign military personnel and local citizens can have far reaching implications for international politics. In so doing, it moves civil-military relations research in new and exciting directions.” — Risa Brooks, Allis Chalmers Associate Professor of Political Science, Marquette University

“This contemporary research rigorously details the many positive, and potentially negative, impacts of US military overseas deployments. It is rich in analysis and insight and an absolute must read for our US national security policy makers, so they more deeply understand how to best shape future military deployments. There is no doubt that Beyond the Wire will have a profound and lasting impact on our national security and foreign policy.” — General Richard B. Myers, USAF, Ret., 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President Emeritus, Kansas State University