Daniel Bessner

Daniel M. Bessner is an American historian, journalist, and scholar who is currently an associate professor at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, United States.

Daniel M. Bessner
Alma mater	BA: Jewish Theological Seminary Columbia University MA: Duke University PhD: Duke University

Early life

Bessner received Bachelor of Arts degrees from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Columbia University in 2006. He then went on to study at Duke University, from which he obtained an MA in history in 2010 and a PhD in history in 2013.

Career

Since 2014, Bessner has been a history and foreign policy professor at the University of Washington. Since then, he has widely contributed to political and foreign policy-centered publications. He has additionally written copiously for Jacobin and the Nation, and has published cover stories in Harper's Magazine. His writing and research has predominantly focused on intellectual history, the history of liberalism, foreign policy, American politics, and the history of the entertainment industry.

Bessner has been the co-host of the podcast American Prestige, which is done in collaboration with The Nation magazine. Besides that, Bessner has appeared on several television shows and podcasts, like HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, NPR's Fresh Air, and, reportedly, on CNN's Smerconish.

Between 2019 and 2020, Bessner was a foreign policy advisor to Bernie Sanders' election campaign.

In 2024, Bessner was reportedly sanctioned by the government of Russia.

Political views

Bessner has described himself as belonging to the political left. His abundant publications in left-aligned and left-leaning magazines like Jacobin (where he is a contributing editor), The Nation, the Washington Post, the Guardian, The New Republic, the New York Times, as well as his support of left-wing political candidates like Bernie Sanders evince his leftist political views. His writing in the past has furthermore been supportive of or sympathetic to social democracy.

Selected publications

Books

Bessner, D. (2024) Imperialist Realism: The End of the American Century. Hampshire, UK: Zero Books.

Bessner, D. (2018) Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual. United States in the World Series, edited by Mark Bradley, David Engerman, Amy Greenberg, and Paul Kramer. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Articles

Bessner, D. (2023, May). The Return of the United States: Ukraine and the ‘Rules-Based International Order.' Alameda Institute. https://alameda.institute/2023/04/28/viii-the-return-of-the-united-states-ukraine-and-the-rules-based-international-order/

Bessner, D. (2023, April). A Bad Breakup. Review of Francis Fukuyama, Liberalism and Its Discontents. The Nation 316, no. 9, 44-49. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/francis-fukuyama-liberalism-discontents/

Bessner, D. (2023, March 20). “Twenty Years after Invading Iraq, American Liberalism is Discredited Yet Still Dominant.” Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2023/03/iraq-war-twentieth-anniversary-liberalism-us-imperialism-hegemony-end-of-history

Bessner, D. (2021, January 15). Trump is a Threat to Democracy. But That Doesn’t Mean He’s Winning. Jacobin. Co-written with Ben Burgis. https://jacobinmag.com/2021/01/trump-capitol-riot-fascist-coup-attempt

Bessner, D. (2020, June 20). How We Should Remember D-Day and the Struggle Against Nazism. Jacobin. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/06/d-day-anniversary-nazism-empire

Bessner, D. (2020, February 7). As President, Bernie Sanders Should Use Executive Orders Aggressively—Just Like FDR Did. Jacobin. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/02/bernie-sanders-executive-orders-fdr-roosevelt