Ryan Powers is an Associate Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs. In addition, he is the Gary K. Bertsch Director of the Benson-Bertsch Center for International Trade and Security, the hub for research, teaching, and outreach on national and international security at the University of Georgia.

He is also a Non-Resident Fellow with the Futures Lab in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a Co-Director of the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) Project at William & Mary's Global Research Institute.

He studies the domestic and international politics of conflict and cooperation. His current research examines how actors draw reputational inferences about one another in international relations and how technology shapes foreign policy decision-making.

Before moving to Georgia, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University.