Ben Claflin

Ben Claflin is a rising junior studying Architectural Engineering with a minor in History. His interest in international security and great power competition began during his time abroad as a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) participant. After learning the German language and culture, Ben co-founded a mentoring service called MentorRing that connects current and former exchange participants. MentorRing is now working to create mentoring programs for the US Department of State and UT for Me. After meeting individuals impacted by WWII and seeing the long-term effects in Germany first-hand, Ben became interested in how WWII still affects the US’ international security. In order to pursue his passion, he participated in the Frank Denius Normandy Scholar Program (NSP) and learned about WWII from multiple nations’ perspectives. During NSP, Ben researched US-China relations during WWII and the Chinese Civil War in order to learn about the successes and failures of the US’ China policy and better understand current tensions. At the University of Texas at Austin, Ben is the Lead Ambassador for an organization that provides support and resources to roughly 7,000 low-income students called UT for Me and Finance Director for the International Affairs Society. In his free time, Ben can be found playing basketball, doing photography, or backpacking.