Teaching and Research 9/2007-Present Associate Professor at Schar School of Policy and Government and Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program, George Mason University 9/2002-Present Visiting Professor, Georgetown University 2011-2014 Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law 1/20010-6/2010 Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Middle East. 9/2004-8/2007 Assistant Professor, St. Joseph’s University 1/2006-6/2007 Scholar in Residence, University of Pennsylvania
Service 3/2013-2021 Board of Trustees Member, Arab Council for the Social Sciences 9/2009-5/2015 Editorial Committee, MERIP, www.merip.org 11/2005-11/2006 Nominating Board Member, Middle East Studies Association of North America 2/2017-3/2017 Program Committee, Middle East Studies Association of North America
EDUCATION
Georgetown University Ph.D., with Distinction, Department of Government 5/2002 Major Field: Comparative Politics Minor Fields: Political Theory, Middle East Politics Dissertation Comm.: Daniel Brumberg, Michael Hudson, Stephen King Dissertation: “The Economic Price Of Regime Security: Mistrust, State-Business Networks, And Economic Stagnation In Syria, 1986-2000”
Georgetown University M.A., Arab Politics, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies 5/1994 Thesis: “Political Islam and Secularism”
George Mason University B.A. in International Relations 8/1992
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Books
[2023] Understanding the Syrian Tragedy: Regime, Opposition Outsiders (Stanford University Press, 2023)
2020 A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East, Co-Editor with Sherene Seikaly and Joel Beinin (Stanford University Press, 2020)
2012 Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2012).
2013 Co-Editor with Ziad Abu-Rish, Critical Voices: A Collection of Interviews From and On the Middle East (Washington DC, Tadween Publishing, 2015).
Peer-Reviewed Articles
4/2013 Symposium on “Teaching About the Middle East Since the Arab Uprisings,” Leading Editor and Co- Author of Introduction and article on “Media Sources and the Arab Uprisings,” PS Political Science, Spring 2013.
9/2012 “Syria’s State Bourgeoisie: An Organic Backbone for the Regime,” Middle EastCritique, Vol. 21, Issue 3 (Fall 2012).
5/2012 “Syria, the Arab Uprisings, and the Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience,” Interface Journal, Vol. 4 (1), 2012, pp. 113-130
3/2012 “Syria’s Stalemate: The Limits of Regime Resilience,” Middle East Policy, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Spring 2012, pp. 85-95.
6/2011 “The Political Economy of Syria: Realities and Challenges,” Middle East Policy, Vol XVIII, No. 2, Summer 2011, pp. 46-61.
2012 "Behind the Resilience of the Syrian Regime," David McMurray and Amanda Ufheil-Somers, eds., The Arab Revolts: The Political Economy of Militant Democracy in the Middle East (Indiana University Press, 2012).
2012 “Business Associations and the New Nexus of Power in Syria,” in Paul Aarts and Francesco Cavatorta, eds. Civil Society in Syria and Iran: Activism in Authoritarian Contexts (Lynne Reiner, 2012) 8/2009 “Enduring Legacies: The Politics of Private Sector Development in Syria,” in Demystifying Syria, ed Fred Lawson (London: SOAS-School of Oriental and African Studies, London Middle East Institute), pp. 29-55.
5/2004 “The Formation and Development of Economic Networks in Syria: Implications for Economic and Fiscal Reforms, 1986-2000,” in Networks of Privilege: The Politics of Economic Reform in the Middle East, ed. Steven Heydemann (New York: Palgrave-St. Martin's Press, 2004), pp. 39-78.
Research in Progress [Peer-Review Bound]
[2024] The War on Terrorism in Historical Context: The Power Not to Have to Learn [Book manuscript based on 15 years of ongoing field research in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, including 120+ high- profile interviews]
[2022] External Intervention and the Efficacy of Rebel Groups in Syria (2011-2015).
9/2006 “The War Down The Street,” Columbia Journalism Review, September/October 2006.
10/2005 “Left to its Domestic Devices: How the Syrian Regime Boxed Itself In,” Elcano Institute, Fall 2005, Madrid, pp. 3-19.
8/2005 “Syria’s Curious Dilemma,” MERIP, Fall 2005, Number 236, pp. 4-13.
6/2004 “Waiting for the Wrong Time: Reform in Syria,” Arab Reform Bulletin, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, June 2004
9/2001 “Business As Usual in Syria?” MERIP Press Information Notes, PIN 66, 7 September 2001
12/1999 “Change and Stasis in Syria One Step Forward . . . ,” MERIP, Winter 1999, Number 213, pp. 23-27.
12/1993 “Islamic Liberals and Secularism,” in Arab Studies Journal, Fall 1993, Vol I, No. 1.
[A full list of publications is available upon request]
AWARDS
7/2021-23 Carnegie Corporation Grant for “Enhancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship in the Arab World,” Principal Investigator, George Mason University and Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $850,000, renewable]
7/2019-21 Carnegie Corporation Grant for “Enhancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship in the Arab World,” Principal Investigator, George Mason University and Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $700,000, renewable]
11/2017 Jere Bacharach Service to the Profession Award, Middle East Studies Association
11/2017-19 Open Society Institute General Support Grant for institutional development, Executive Director of Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $400,000]
7/2017-19 Carnegie Corporation Grant for “Enhancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship in the Arab World,” Principal Investigator, George Mason University and Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $600,000, renewable]
8/2017-19 UNDP Grant for “Syria Project” (Training workshops and online portal), Arab Studies Institute, [Grant: $300,000, renewable]
5/2015-17 Open Society Institute General Support Grant for institutional development, Executive Director of Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $560,000]
10/2015-17 Carnegie Corporation Grant for “Enhancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship in the Arab World,” Principal Investigator, George Mason University and Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $500,000, renewable]
10/2013-15 Carnegie Corporation Grant for “Enhancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship in the Arab World,” Co-Principal Investigator, George Mason University and Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $500,000, renewable]
3/2012-15 Open Society Foundation start-up and subsequent Grant for “Knowledge Production Project,” Director of “Knowledge Production Project” at Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $250,000 x 2]
2/2012 Social Science Research Council and Carnegie Corporation of New York Grant for Jadaliyya development, Co-Founder and Co-Editor of Jadaliyya [Grant: $65,000]
8/2011 Open Society Institute Grant for institutional development, Executive Director of Arab Studies Institute [Grant: $162,000]
5/2002 Ph.D. with Distinction on Dissertation Defense, Georgetown University
1998-1999 Social Science Research Council Fellowship Recipient for dissertation field research on “State-Business Relations in Syria”
1997/1998 Distinction on Political Theory & Middle East Politics Comprehensives
SELECT CONFERENCE PAPERS/LECTURES [Prior to 2018. I stopped archiving post-2018 events]
5 August 2018 National Lawyers Guild Conference, “US Policy and the Syrian Uprising.”
21 September 2017 World Bank, Washington DC, “Poliitcal Perils of ‘Reconstruction Strategies’ in Syria”
5 October 2017 Central European University, Budapest, “The Rise, Transformation, and Prospects of “the”/“a” Syrian Uprising”
18 October 2017 ACMES Center, Pretoria, South Africa, “Democracy and Development Challenges in the Middle East”
12 November 2017 Cornell, “Knowledge Production on the Arab Uprisings: New Glasses, Old Lenses”
10 January 2018 UNDP, Japan, “Syria’s War Economy: Pre-Cursors, Dynamics, and Prospects”
9 February 2018 UCLA Conference/Book Project, “The Arab Uprisings and the Syrian Case: Unfinished Business,”
12 February 2018 Open Society Institute, London, “Syria's Uprising and Prospects for Post-War Reconstruction: Unfinished Business and the War Economy”
15 February 2018 GMU Professional Development Seminar, Schar School, “Data and Field Research Methods and Caveats in Authoritarian Settings/Regimes”
28 February 2018 GMU Brown Bag Series, “Syria’s Uprising and the War Economy”
5 March 2018 Ohio University, “Phase Two In Syria: Reconquering a Broken Country”
6 April 2018 University of Virginia, “Taking Stock and Taking Sides: The Politics and Infrastructure of Knowledge Production on the Middle East”
9 April 2018 Princeton, “Knowledge Production and Consumption on the Middle East: Patterns and Platforms”
16 April 2018 Georgetown University, “Knowledge Production on the Middle East: Politics, Technology, and Space”
24 April 2018 American University of Beirut, “Gauging the Socioeconomic Effects of the War Economy in Syria: A Framework”
2 May 2018 GMU, Schar Symposium, “State Collapse, Transition, and Reconstruction”
17 May 2018 Shanghai University, Conference Keynote: “Orientalism, Neo-orientalism and Post-Orientalism”
12 July 2018 Ibn Khaldun Summer Seminars, GMU, “Arab Uprisings in Regional Perspective” and “Knowledge Production on the Middle East”
2016-2017 National Singapore University, “A Manifesto for Understanding the Syrian Tragedy,” 1 September 2016 Boston University, “Digital Humanities and Knowledge Production on the Middle East,” 16 September 2016 Cornell University, “The Political Economy of the Syrian Uprising,” 8 October 2016 Stanford University, “International Escalation and Competing Narratives on Syria,” 12 October 2016 UC Berkeley, “Competing Narratives on Syria: Roots of the Uprising,” 18 October 2016 Middle East Studies Association, “Global Arab-America: Conflating ‘Arab,’ ‘Muslim,’ and ‘Middle Eastern’,” 18 November 2016 Middle East Studies Association, “Explaining Divergent Outcomes: The Arab Spring Five Years On,” 19 November 2016 American University of Beirut, “Methodological and Substantive Approaches to Explaining the Syrian Uprising,” 6 December 2016 Northwestern University, “Critique of the Literature on the Arab Uprisings,” 29 January 2017 Northwestern University, “Trump’s Mideast Policy (Your Country Is not Your Country Club),” 30 January 2017 UC Davis, “Regime, Opposition, Outsiders: Understanding the Syrian Tragedy,” 17 February 2017 George Mason University, “Neoliberal Development and the State,” 21 February 2017 George Mason University, “The Syrian Uprising Six Years On: Causes, Dynamics, Prospects,” 22 March 2017 Harvard University, “1967 War and Syria,” 1 April 2017 Oberlin College, “Syria’s Uprising 6 Years On,” 5 April 2017 George Mason University, “Cultural Orthodoxies in Explanatory Endeavors” 28 April 2017
2014-2015 Middle East Studies Association Conference, “Knowledge Production Between Books and Blogs,” 11/15/2015 Stanford University, “Syria’s Refugee Crisis: Political and Humanitarian Implications,” 1/21/2016 Stanford University, “Understanding the Syrian Tragedy: Five Years On,” 1/22/2016 New York University, “From Civil Protest to the Russian Intervention,” 2/4/2016 American University of Beirut, “Academia and Social Justice in the Context of the Arab Uprisings,” 3/13/2016 Ohio University, “Syria: Five Years On,” 3/25/2016 Georgetown University, “State-Led Economic Decision-Making: State-Business Relations in Syria,” 4/13/2016 Michigan State University, “What is Islamic? Discourse on ISIS,” 4/14/2016 George Mason University, “The Rise, Expansion, and Limits of ISIS,” 4/16/2016 Albuquerque International Association and Center for International Studies, “Understanding the Syrian Tragedy: Causes and Dynamics of the Uprising,” 5/1/2016 American University of Beirut, “Methodological Notes on Researching Revolutions,” 6/1/2016
2013-2014 “State and Business in Comparative Perspective” Exeter, UK, September 12, 2013 “The United States and the Syrian Uprising” Yale, September 16, 2013 “Understanding the Arab Uprisings” George Mason University, Provost Vision Series, September 23, 2013 “State and Opposition in Syria” Harvard, September 30, 2013 “New Modes of Knowledge Production in Academia” Social Science Research Council Conference, Istanbul, October 3, 2013 “Lessons From a Protracted Uprising: The Case of Syria” MESA (Middle East Studies Association), October 12, 2013 “Foreign Policy Lessons from the Syrian Case” Arab Council on Foreign Relations, October 23, 2013 “Elements of A Long Stalemate in Syria” Reed University, November 1, 2013 “State and Opposition in Syria” Brown University, November 8, 2013 “State and Opposition in Syria” Davidson, February 26, 2014 “The Politics of Knowledge Production: The Case of the Arab Uprisings” Harvard, March 3, 2014 “History of the Syrian Revolt” Harvard, March 4, 2014 “Whither Syria’s Business Classes?” UCLA, April 8, 2014 “The Syrian Uprising: Three Years On” University of Illinois at Chicago, April 22, 2013 “The Political Economy of Development: The Syrian Case” University of Chicago, April 24, 2014 “Knowledge Production on Syria” George Mason University, April 28, 2014 “Academic Publishing in Middle East Studies” Arab Council for the Social Sciences, Tunisia, May 10, 2014 “The Idea of the International Community and the case of Syria” Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, June 12, 2014
1997-2013 8/2013 “Teaching the Middle East in the Survey Course,” American Political Science Association workshop, New Orleans, August 2013. http://bit.ly/Mo0Xvi.
6/2012 “What Political Science Has to Say about the Arab Uprisings and Authoritarian Rule,” Sciences-Po, Paris, June 25, 2012.
6/2012 “The Political Economy of the Arab Uprisings: Causes and Prospects,” American University of Beirut, June 1, 2012.
5/2012 “Structural Causes of the Syrian Uprising,” Aydin University, Istanbul, May 24, 2012.
5/2012 “Building Solidarity-Based Organizations in a Marketized World,” TEDx Talk, George Mason University, May 6, 2012.
5/2012 “The Limits of Authoritarian Resilience in Syria,” George Mason University, May 1, 2012.
4/2012 “The Advantages and Perils of New Avenues for Knowledge Production,” George Mason University, April 19, 2012.
4/2012 “Getting Syria Wrong: The Importance of Structural Analysis,” presented at the Brown University Conference on “Arab Revolutions and Scholarship,” April 5, 6, 2012.
4/2012 “Business Networks and the Limits of Authoritarian Resilience in Syria,” presented at Harvard’s Arab Transformative Movements Working Group, Center for Middle East Studies, April 14, 2012
3/2012 “The Arab Uprisings: Causes and Prospects of the Syrian Case,” presented at the University of Michigan Conference on “Islam in the New Middle East,” March 29, 30, 2012.
3/2012 “The Arab Uprisings and the Syrian Case,” Holy Cross, March 15, 2012.
3/2012 “Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience,” Book Lecture, Harvard, March 14 2012.
3/2012 “The Syrian Uprising and the Question of Resistance,” University of Toronto, March 13, 2012.
3/2012 “The Syrian Uprising and the Question of Resistance,” Concordia, March 12, 2012.
3/2012 “The Syrian Uprisings and The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience,” Oberlin, March 10, 2012.
2/2012 “The Syrian Uprising: Causes and Prospects,” University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, February 28, 2012.
2/2012 “The Syrian Uprising: Causes and Prospects,” Berkeley, February 14, 2012.
2/2012 “Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience,” Book Lecture, Stanford University, February 13, 2012.
2/2012 “Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience,” Book Lecture, Georgetown University, February 7, 2012.
2/2012 “Popular Uprisings in Authoritarian Contexts,” presented at UCLA’s conference on “Law and Revolution: Institution-Building in the Wake of Massive Political Change,” February 16, 17, 2012
11/2011 “Debating Ethno-National Conflicts in the Middle East” Harvard, November 11, 2011.
11/2011 “The Arab Uprisings: The Syrian Case,” Bard College, New York, November 9, 2011.
11/2011 “The Arab Uprisings and the Syrian Case: Implications for Political Science,” South Korea ASAN Institute, November 4, 2011.
6/2011 “Bahrain and Syria: Lynchpins for the Arab Spring,” Alwan Center for the Arts, New York, June 8, 2011.
5/2011 “How Arab Revolutionaries Are Unmaking an Old World,” Ohio State University, May 5, 2011.
5/2011 “Teaching the Middle East After the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions: The Need for Multi-Disciplinary Approaches,” George Mason University, May 13, 2011.
4/2011 “The Arab Uprisings and U.S. Policy: What is the American National Interest?” Capitol Hill, April 28, 2011.
4/2011 “The Unraveling of a Regional Political Order,” Virginia Commonwealth University, April 14, 2011.
4/2011 “The New Nexus of Power Between the Political and the Economic Elite in the Arab World,” Smith College, April 4, 2011.
2/2011 “Inequity and Development: Cases from the Middle East,” George Mason University, February 7, 2011.
11/2010 “The Unraveling of Syria’s State-Centered Economy: Business Associations as Part of the New Nexus of Power,” University of Amsterdam, November 29, 2010.
11/2010 “Single-Case Study Fieldwork in Closed Political Systems: Cases from the Arab World,” George Mason University, November 11, 2010.
7/2009 “The Private Sector Between Father and Son in Syria,” [reformulated title] presented at the Sciences Po Workshop, Moyen-Orient Méditerrannée, June 2009, Paris.
9/2008 “Resilient Authoritarianism in Syria: The Role of Informal State-Business Networks Under Asad,” Presented at the American Political Science AssociationConference, Boston, September, 2008.
11/2007 “Failing to Fall: Syria’s Regime Strategies For Resuscitating Authoritarian Rule,” presented at the Middle East Studies Association Conference, November 2007
3/2006 “The Politics of Stunted Private Sector Development in Syria, 1970-2002,” (7th Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting workshop #7, “State-Business Relations in the Middle East and North Africa”).
11/2005 “The Rentier Bourgeoisie: Politically Constituted Social Strata,” presented at the Middle East Studies Association Conference, Washington DC, November 2005.
5/2004 “The Developmental Cost of Elite Networking,” in After Development: The State, Power, and Politics in the Middle East and Africa, Eds. Julia Elyachar and Timothy Mitchell (New York University Conference Papers, 2004).
10/2002 “A Bottom-Up Redistribution of Wealth: Economic Networks and Economic Change in Syria, 1986-2000,” presented at The Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies Research Workshop on “Networks of Transition and Transformation in the Constitution of the Middle East,” New York University.
5/2002 The Economic Price of Regime Security: Mistrust, State-Business Networks, and Economic Stagnation in Syria, 1986-2000, Dissertation Title, Georgetown University.
11/2001 “The Politics of Stunted Development: State and Business in Syria,” presented at the Middle East Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, 2001.
3/2001 “The Systemic Bases for Continuity and Change in Populist-Authoritarian Regimes,” presented at the Second Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, European University Institute, Florence, Workshop I on Regimes and Regime Change in the Southern Mediterranean.
3/2000 “The Political Dynamics of Economic Liberalization in Syria,” presented at the First Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, European University Institute, Florence, Workshop III on Changing Economies and Changing Societies in the Middle East: Winners and Losers in the Process of Economic Reform.
11/1997 “Reform Strategies of Post-Populist Authoritarian Regimes,” presented at the Middle East Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, 1997.
PUBLISHING EXPERIENCE
2012-Present Founding Editor, Tadween Publishing (www.TadweenPublishing.com). Tadween is a new kind of publishing house with emphasis on various forms of pedagogical publications/content and forms of scholarship that involve eclectic methodologies. Tadween also emphasizes productive interactive content. 2010-Present Co-Founder/Editor, Jadaliyya Ezine, (http://www.Jadaliyya.com). In 2011, Jadaliyya became the “go to” destination for academics and journalists for daily analysis on the Middle East. It attracts an average of 80,000 readers a week. 1992-Present Founding Editor, Arab Studies Journal (Georgetown University) A peer-reviewed, research publication. (http://www.ArabStudiesJournal.org).
DOCUMENTARY/FILM PRODUCTION (RESEARCH-BASED)
09/2004 About Baghdad, Co-Producer/Director (www.AboutBaghdad.com), Winner, Best Documentary, Big Apple Film Festival, (New York, 2005); Official Selection, IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival), (Amsterdam, 2004). Estimated viewership in 5 continents, via satellite stations, and DVD sales/rental (including on Netflix, Amazon, and Blockbusters): 75 million viewers.
12/2006 Arabs and Terrorism, 3-Part Series, filmed in 11 countries, with 125 high-profile interviewees, Director/Executive Producer (www.ArabsandTerrorism.com). Estimated viewership in 5 continents, via satellite stations, and DVD sales/rental (including on Netflix, Amazon, and Blockbusters): 90 million viewers.
2/2007 The “Other” Threat: Arabs and Muslim Immigrants in Europe, 2-Part Series, Director/Executive Producer in cooperation with the European Union (www.TheOtherThreat.com Estimated viewership in 3 continents, via satellite stations, and DVD sales/rental: 15 million viewers.
Select Film Reviews “Arabs and Terrorism (2007).” The New York Times (14 June 2007). “’About Baghdad’: Meeting the Everymen of Iraq, Courtesy of a Returning Poet.” The New York Times (12 Jan 2005). http://nyti.ms/MH4ty2.
Director, Middle East Studies Program Director, Middle East and Islamic Studies Associate Professor, Schar School for Policy and Government 2007-Present
Courses: Political Economy of Development Authoritarianism and Reform in the Middle East Government and Politics of the Middle East Comparative Politics The Arab Uprisings Orientalism and Terrorism Politics of Syria Discourse on Terrorism Text, Film, and the Arab Uprisings
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science St. Joseph’s University 2004-2007
Spring 2007 Pol 2301: “Orientalism and Terrorism” Pol 2491: “Authoritarianism in the Middle East” Pol 2781: “Contentious Themes in Middle East Studies/Politics” Fall 2006 Pol 2381: “Politics Sociology of the Arab World” Pol 1031: “Introduction to Comparative Politics” Spring 2006 Pol 2301: “Orientalism and Terrorism” Pol 2491: “Politics and Society of the Arab World” Fall 2005 Pol 2781: “Orientalism and Terrorism” Spring 2005 Pol 1031: “Introduction to Comparative Politics” (two sections) Pol 2431: “Reform in the Middle East” Pol 2491: “Authoritarianism in the Middle East” Fall 2004 Pol 2491: “Authoritarianism in the Middle East” Pol 1031: “Introduction to Comparative Politics” (two sections)
Visiting Adjunct Professor, Department of Government Georgetown University 2002-2007
Spring 2007 Seminar: “Orientalism and Terrorism” Spring 2006 Seminar: “Orientalism and Terrorism” Spring 2005 Seminar: “The Politics of Syria and Iraq” Spring 2004 Seminar: “Authoritarianism in the Middle East” Spring 2004 Seminar: “The Politics of Syria and Iraq” Fall 2003 Seminar: “Authoritarianism in the Middle East” Spring 2003 Graduate Seminar: “Authoritarianism in the Middle East” Fall 2002 Lecture: “The Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa” Summer 2002 Lecture: “Comparative Political Systems of Late Developing Countries” Summer 2001 Lecture: “Comparative Political Systems” Summer 1999 Lecture: “Comparative Political Systems”
Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology American University 1997-2002
Spring 1997, Fall 1997, Summer 1998, Spring 2001, Summer 2002 Course: “Politics of the Arab World”
LANGUAGES
English and Arabic: native ability in reading, writing, and speaking. French: proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking.