Beniam Awash

Geopolitical risk and threat intelligence analyst with intelligence-community and federally funded research experience spanning transnational threat networks, extremism, and regional instability, combined with a decade-plus analytic focus on maritime chokepoint governance, sanctions, and critical-infrastructure supply chains across the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Horn of Africa. Builds executive-facing analytic products that translate maritime piracy, transnational organized crime, sanctions evasion, and state/non-state threat activity into operational risk assessments supporting personnel and asset protection and business decision-making. Experienced managing cross-functional relationships across government, diplomatic, and academic institutions; comfortable operating with high ambiguity and building in-country source networks through international travel.

Lead Coordinator, Technical Expert Networks - Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations - New York, NY

(2025-01)

• Built and lead the Technical Expert Networks (TENs) program, an intelligence- and expertise-coordination infrastructure supporting Mission leadership on high-priority diplomatic and security files.
• Secured Ambassador-level authorization and stood up three pilot networks — AI Governance, GERD Public Diplomacy, and Educational Knowledge Transfer — translating technical and geopolitical developments into actionable guidance for senior decision-makers.
• Serve as the operational link between subject-matter experts and Mission leadership, producing briefing materials on fast-moving multilateral and regional security issues.

Research - Independent Research

(2025-01)

Independent chokepoint-intelligence and geopolitical risk practice focused on maritime governance, sanctions, and transnational security across the Persian Gulf corridor and Horn of Africa, positioned separately from academic affiliation.

• Author of the Chokepoint Geopolitics working paper series (~ papers on: maritime and critical minerals supply chain chokepoint geopolitics, sanctions & geoeconomics, political ecology/territorial violence), distributed via Github, SSRN, and a public research site.
• Selected analysis: "The Architecture of Denial," on Iran's coupled maritime governance strategy at the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb; "The Sanctions Inversion," on reverse-sanctions mechanisms; "The Tungsten Clock," on critical-minerals supply chain exposure.
• Applies a four-tier evidence taxonomy (confirmed / reported / estimated / analyst inference) to maintain source transparency and analytic rigor across all published assessments.

Assistant Professor of Sociology; Affiliated Faculty, Africana & Latinx Studies - SUNY Oneonta - Oneonta, NY

(2018-01 - 2025-01)

• Researched and taught on political ecology, state violence, and resource-conflict dynamics, including a dissertation-based comparative study of land expropriation and conflict in Darfur, Sudan and Ethiopia.
• Designed and delivered 26 distinct courses to 600+ students across Sociology, Africana Studies, Political Science, and Environmental Studies; maintained a 4.51/5.0 teaching-effectiveness rating.
• Served as elected College Senator and on the Advisory Committee for the Center for Racial Justice and Inclusive Excellence.

Senior Research Scientist, ce Directorate - United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)

(2012-02 - 2012-05)

• Produced geopolitical and regional-instability intelligence analysis supporting a combatant command intelligence directorate, applying the full intelligence lifecycle from requirements development through dissemination.
• Assessed state and non-state threat actors, regional conflict dynamics, and instability drivers across the African continent for military and interagency stakeholders.
• Delivered analytical products calibrated for both technical intelligence consumers and senior military/civilian leadership.
• Applied Boolean search methodologies and open-source/academic database research, triangulated against in-country interlocutor networks, to produce high-confidence assessments.

Research Analyst, Terrorism & Regional Security - Research Foundation of SUNY / NSF–Office of Naval Research Grant - Binghamton, NY

(2009-09 - 2011-08)

• Served as primary research analyst on a $1.6M federal grant (NSF/Office of Naval Research) examining religious extremism, transnational threat networks, and regional security across North Africa and the Sahel (8 countries) for U.S. government and Department of Defense stakeholders.
• Investigated extremist recruitment patterns, cross-border organizational structures, radicalization processes, and community resilience factors, producing 12 technical reports to the Office of Naval Research.
• Applied structured pattern analysis across open-source and academic intelligence sources to identify trends in transnational threat activity and forecast regional security flashpoints in the pre–Arab Spring North Africa/Sahel theater.
• Briefed Office of Naval Research program leadership on counter-extremism and regional-stability findings, translating complex analytic work into policy-relevant products for military and civilian stakeholders.

Ph.D. - Sociology - Binghamton University (2020-01)

M.A. - International Relations - Binghamton University

B.A. - Economics - University of Massachusetts Amherst