Overview
Uriel Abulof is an associate professor at Tel-Aviv University’s School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs. Abulof studies the politics of fear, happiness and hope, legitimation, social movements, nationalism, and ethnic conflicts. He has written extensively on the Middle East and Israel and is the recipient of the Young Scholar Award in Israel Studies. Abulof’s research is interdisciplinary, and in political science integrates the four main subfields. Foregrounding humanity’s uniqueness, Abulof introduces Political Existentialism to the social sciences.
Abulof published several books and edited volumes, over sixty peer-reviewed academic articles, and copious essays and op-eds. His articles have appeared in journals such as International Studies Quarterly, International Political Sociology, Nations and Nationalism, British Journal of Sociology, European Journal of International Relations, Ethnic and Racial Studies, International Political Science Review, Ethnopolitics, Society, Journal of International Relations and Development, Contemporary Politics, and International Politics.
His recent books include The Mortality and Morality of Nations (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and Living on the Edge: The Existential Uncertainty of Zionism (Haifa University Press, 2015), Self-Determination: A Double-Edged Concept (Routledge, 2016) and Communication, Legitimation and Morality in Modern Politics (Routledge, 2017). He is currently working on three book projects: Killing Humanity: From Existential Conflict to Coexistence (on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), Abyss & Horizon: Political Existentialism and Humanity’s Midlife Crisis (on the mismatch between objective peace and prosperity and intersubjective unease), and Death, Freedom, and the Search for Meaning (on what makes us human – in and beyond politics).
Abulof created and directs various pertinent public projects, including Double-Edged, a Psychology Today blog, the Sapienism initiative, and Princeton University’s edX award-wining online course, HOPE, reviewed best online course of all times in political science and philosophy. At Cornell, Abulof teaches SCE course What Makes Us Human (GOVT 3686).
Research Focus
- Politics of fear, happiness and hope
- Israel Studies
- Middle East Politics
- Nationalism and ethnic conflict
- Existentialism
- Legitimation
- Discourse Analysis
In the news
- Cornell scholar: Biden should bypass Bibi, appeal directly to Israelis
- Peace is possible for Israel and Gaza—if their leaders want it
- Cornell scholar: Netanyahu’s policy failures on display following attack
- ‘Fearmongering’ drives Netanyahu’s comeback in Israel
- De-escalation up to Israelis and Palestinians, but U.S. can help
- Fear year: Pandemic politics made us anxious, but hardly safer
- Netanyahu enters election in high spirits, despite prospect of deadlock
- Center’s grants seed diverse research in the social sciences
- 'Puzzling' politics in Israel as dissolution looms
- Israel-UAE pact timing ‘could not be better’ for Netanyahu
- A&S dean Ray Jayawardhana awarded Carl Sagan Medal
