Ben Zala is the Director of Oxford Research Group's Sustainable Security programme. He is also a member of the editorial team for the academic journal Civil Wars (published by Routledge). Ben holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Birmingham and a Bachelor of International Relations with first class honours from La Trobe University, Melbourne.

Previously, Ben worked at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs), the La Trobe University Centre for Dialogue and the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia).

At ORG Ben works across a wide range of defence and security issues and is responsible for the strategic direction of the Sustainable Security Programme. Ben works on traditional security issues such as nuclear disarmament as well as non-traditional issues such as the security implications of climate change and resource scarcity. His work has been published in leading journals and blogs and regularly contributes to UK and international media.