
Welcome! I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at Temple University. I specialize in the comparative politics and international relations of the Middle East and North Africa. I am also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN).
My latest book is Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible (Oxford University Press, 2025). Two decades in the making, this is a sweeping roadmap of Jordan’s politics. It covers the origins of the Hashemite state, the battle for democracy, the paradoxical economy, and the kingdom’s remarkable foreign policy. My edited Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa (Routledge, 2026)–a pathbreaking textbook on regional politics designed for general readers–was also recently released.
My other research grapples with the dynamics of authoritarianism and democratization in the MENA. Beyond Jordan, I work on Morocco, Kuwait, and the broader Arabian Gulf. I am also deeply concerned with the limits of US hegemony, including problems of political economy, geopolitical order, and the survival of American democracy itself.
I sit on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Middle East Studies and the Editorial Committee of the Middle East Report and Information Project, and serve as an Associate Editor of Research & Politics.
Updated June 2026