Monographs
Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible
This book is the most comprehensive academic book ever written on modern Jordan. It provides a concise yet authoritative synthesis of the Hashemite Kingdom’s evolution, from its founding over a century ago to the present. It explores Jordan’s monarchy, government, society, economy, and foreign policy. Uniquely, it combines theoretical work from political science and other scholarly fields with firsthand knowledge of Jordan garnered over decades of fieldwork and detailed study. Among the topics covered are the kingdom’s British colonial legacies, fractious national identity, authoritarian rule, state institutions, civil society, democratic uprisings, economic development, neoliberal reforms, geopolitical conflicts, the Israeli-Palestinian nexus, and American hegemony. These insights show how Jordan’s political experiences form a microcosm for understanding the entire Middle East, and in many ways forecast the future of democracy, prosperity, and peace in the region.
Reviewed in Foreign Affairs, Middle East Journal, British Journal of Middle Eastern Politics, Democracy in Exile, Choice, and featured in Hidden Cities and Ghost of Abu Aardvark blogs.
From Resilience to Revolution: How Foreign Interventions Destabilize the Middle East
This scholarly book engages Middle East politics to explore the connections between great power support, authoritarian politics, institutional development, and long-term stability. It subjects theories of autocratic regime durability to the causal gauntlet of comparative-historical case studies (Iran, Kuwait, and Jordan), and makes a singular claim: foreign powers can hurt more than they help when bailing out friendly dictatorships. Far from being innocuous helping hands, external support from geopolitical patrons like the US can leave behind destructive legacies by irreversibly undermining the social conflicts, ruling coalitions, and political institutions responsible for keeping these regimes afloat during crises. It is notable for its detailed, process-oriented case studies of political development in Iran, Kuwait, and Jordan; for its methodological combination of historical analysis and field research; and for its revision of existing theories about ruling coalitions, authoritarian institutions, and the long-term legacies of foreign aid.
Reviewed in Perspectives on Politics, Journal of Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Middle East Journal, Mediterranean Politics, Review of Middle East Studies, Bustan: The Middle East Book Review, and Choice.
Edited Volumes
The Political Science of the Middle East: Theory and Research since the Arab Uprisings
Edited by Marc Lynch, Jillian Schwedler, and Sean Yom
The Arab Uprisings of 2011-12 catalyzed a new wave of rigorous, deeply informed research on the politics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In The Political Science of the Middle East, Marc Lynch, Jillian Schwedler, and Sean Yom present the definitive overview of this pathbreaking turn. This is a monumental stocktaking organized around a singular theme: new theorizing from the MENA has advanced the frontiers of comparative politics and international relations, and the close-range study of the region occupies a core place in mainstream political science. Its dozen chapters cover an exhaustive array of topics, including authoritarianism and democracy, contentious politics, regional security, military institutions, conflict and violence, the political economy of development, Islamist movements, identity and sectarianism, public opinion, migration, and local politics. For each of these topics, leading MENA experts and specialists highlight innovative concepts, vibrant debates, diverse methodologies, and unexpected findings. The result is an indispensable research primer, one that stands as a generational statement from a regional subfield.
Reviewed in Perspectives on Politics, Political Science Quarterly, LSE Blogs, Al-Muntaqa, Journal of Political & Military Sociology, Journal of Interdisciplinary Middle Eastern Studies, Choice, and Qsar Press.
Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa: Development, Democracy, and Dictatorship (10th ed.)
Edited by Sean Yom
Now in its groundbreaking 10th edition, this volume remains among the most popular books devoted to systematically explaining the high politics of the Middle East and North Africa. Building on the previous 9th edition (published 2020), the revised volume rigorously analyzes the governing regimes, political histories, colorful leaders, economic development, and foreign policies of the region’s nearly two dozen countries. The volume presents deep theoretical overviews from the editor, followed by 16 country-based chapters from renowned scholars. Those chapters cover almost all the Arab states (including Palestine), plus Israel, Türkiye, and Iran. Rich yet accessible, it is heavily read by scholars, students, journalists, and diplomats.
The Societies of the Middle East and North Africa: Structures, Vulnerabilities, and Forces (2nd ed.)
Edited by Sean Yom
The second edition of this high-selling anthology builds on the first edition (published 2019) in exploring the cultures and societies of the Middle East and North Africa. Rather than focus on governments and foreign policy, it interrogates the organizing structures, human vulnerabilities, and dynamic forces that shape everyday lives across a diverse, ever-changing region. It unpacks not the high politics of states but deep social patterns. A line-up of leading experts presents chapters on rich thematic topics, such as economic life, civil society, gender dynamics, environmental conflict, the legacies of rentierism, social and religious identity, rural life and urbanization, youth politics, public opinion, and the experience of refugees.