Harrison Akins is a research fellow at the University of Tennessee's Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy. He previously served as an Ibn Khaldun Chair Research Fellow at American University's School of International Service in Washington, DC. His research and writings primarily focus on minority discrimination, political violence, and U.S. foreign policy. His essays have been featured in the Atlantic, Foreign Policy, BBC, the Guardian, Huffington Post, and Al Jazeera English, among other outlets.