Harrison Akins has been researching, writing, and advising on South Asian politics, conflict, and development for more than a decade. He is the author of The Terrorism Trap: How the War on Terror Escalates Violence in America’s Partner States and Conquering the Maharajas: India’s Princely States and the End of Empire, 1930–50. A frequent contributor to the media, his essays have been featured in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, BBC, Al Jazeera, India Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Guardian, among other outlets. Dr Akins received his PhD in political science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.