McAllister graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Yale College in 1977 with a concentration in American diplomatic history.
Between 1995 and 1997, McAllister was Time magazine's White House Correspondent, covering foreign and domestic policies and the internal politics of the Clinton Administration.
[3] In his previous assignment as Diplomatic Correspondent, McAllister accompanied Secretaries of State James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Warren Christopher on their foreign travels, and contributed to or wrote more than 40 cover stories on diplomacy.
[5] In this role, he authored cover stories on Tony Blair, the 2005 United Kingdom general election, EU expansion, Muslims in Europe, the siege in the Russian city of Beslan, terrorist bombings in London, the 2006 G-8 summit and the BBC.
[9] In addition to his legal practice, he comments regularly on politics and diplomacy for the BBC and other news organisations.