Commentaries and Short Essays

“The Persistence of US Hierarchy in the Gulf,” in IR Theory and the Middle East at War, POMEPS Studies 58, Project on Middle East Political Science, March 2026.
“Jordan is Encaged by the Iran War,” Democracy in Exile (online journal of Democracy in the Arab World Now), 17 March 2026.
“The Future of Jordan Amidst the Palestinian Crisis,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 18 January 2026.
“Expert Snapshots: Jordan Cracks Down on the Muslim Brotherhood,” Perspective of the Middle East Institute of National University of Singapore, 8 May 2025.
“Trump’s Noxious Ethnocentrism,” Roundtable on President Trump’s first 100 days, Democracy in the Arab World Now, 29 April 2025.
“Kuwaiti Exceptionalism Under Siege,” Royal Society for Asian Affairs, 25 April 2025.
“Trump’s Geopolitical Blackmail of Jordan Puts King Abdullah in a Bind,” Democracy in Exile (online journal of Democracy in the Arab World Now), 11 February 2025.
“Will Kuwait’s Next Parliament Be Its Last?” Online exclusive analysis, Journal of Democracy, March 2024.
“Jordan’s Democratic Reform Déjà Vu: Lofty Promises, Little Progress,” Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), 9 September 2023.
“Fighting Corruption in the Middle East: Recalibrating U.S. Foreign Policy,” Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), August 2023.
“The Long Game: Saudi Arabia and Professional Golf,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, 21 June 2023.
“Hegemony, Democracy, and the Legacy of the Iraq War,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, 30 March 2023.
“The Everyday Politics of Authoritarian Rule in Jordan,” Middle East Report Online, 1 March 2023.
“Democratic Reform in Jordan: Breaking the Impasse” (with Wael Al-Khatib), Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), 15 February 2022.
“Middle East Drawdowns Prove American Priorities Have Changed,” National Interest, 18 August 2021.
“America’s Misplaced Enchantment with Arab Monarchs,” Democracy in Exile, 14 May 2021. Translated to Arabic by DAWN.
“Jordan Has Become a Banana Monarchy,” Foreign Policy, 15 April 2021.
“It’s Time to Recalibrate US-Jordanian Relations,” Responsible Statecraft, 14 April 2021.
“Dealing with Dictatorships: The Paradox of Great Power Support,” Siyasa: A Forum on Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics, 15 March 2021.
“Kuwait’s Leader Has Died. The Rulers Are Now Fighting over Who Will Be Crown Prince,” Washington Post (Monkey Cage), 1 October 2020. (cited as one of top 10 Monkey Cage pieces for 2020)
“The US is Ignoring the Growing Pandemic-Fueled Repression in the Middle East,” Responsible Statecraft, 17 August 2020.
“Monarchism, Fear, and Aid: The Curious Case of Jordan,” Democracy and Autocracy: Newsletter of the Democracy and Autocracy Section of APSA, Vol. 18, No. 2 (2020): 14-19.
“Youth Politics in the Middle East and North Africa” (with Marc Lynch and Wael al-Khatib), Youth Politics in the Middle East and North Africa, POMEPS Studies 36, Project on Middle East Political Science, November 2019.
“Why Jordan’s Identity Can’t be Bought” (with Katrina Sammour), Washington Post (Monkey Cage), 24 June 2019.
“Youth Revolts and Political Opposition in Jordan” (with Wael Al-Khatib), Washington Post (Monkey Cage), 20 December 2018.
“The Politics of Youth Policymaking in Jordan” (with Wael al-Khatib), in Social Policy in the Middle East and North Africa, POMEPS Studies 31, Project on Middle East Political Science, October 2018.
“Jordan’s Protests Are A Ritual, Not A Revolution,” Foreign Policy, 11 June 2018.
“Jordan Struggles for Survival in Shadow of US-Israeli-Saudi Axis,” Middle East Eye, 1 June 2018. Translated to French and Arabic on Arabi21.com.
“The Real Story with Ritula Shah: How Do Monarchies Survive?” BBC World Service Radio, 18 May 2018.
“Islamists Are Losing Support in Jordan” (with Wael Al-Khatib), Washington Post (Monkey Cage), 17 May 2018.
“Whatever Happened to the Arab League?” Al-Jazeera, 16 March 2018.
“The Art of the Hedge: Jordan between Washington, Riyadh, and Doha,” Middle East Eye, 8 June 2017. Translated to French and Arabic on HuffPostArabi.
“Counterterrorism and Youth Radicalization in Jordan: Social and Political Dimensions” (with Katrina Sammour), CTC Sentinel, Vol. 10: No. 4 (April 2017): 25-30. Translated to Arabic on AlAraby.co.uk.
“Why Jordan and Morocco Are Doubling Down on Royal Rule,” Washington Post (Monkey Cage), 16 May 2017.
“The Arab Gulf’s Mislaid Hopes in Trump,” Cairo Review of Global Affairs, 23 April 2017.
“Jordan Held Elections; It Change Little,” Middle East Eye, 5 November 2016.
“Illusions of Change in Morocco,” Cairo Review of Global Affairs 23 (Fall 2016).
“How a New Youth Movement Is Emerging in Jordan Ahead of Elections” (with Wael Al-Khatib), Washington Post (Monkey Cage), 14 September 2016.
“The Social Terrain of Islamist Radicalization: Insights from Jordan” (with Katrina Sammour), Lawfare Blog, 21 August 2016.
“Helping Hurts: Why Supporting Dictators Can Doom Them,” Foreign Affairs, 7 March 2016.
“Durability before Democracy: Why Stability is Elusive in the Middle East,” The World Financial Review, January-February 2016, pp. 37-40.
“Arab Civil Society after the Arab Spring: Weaker but Deeper,” Middle East and Asia Project Essay Series, Middle East Institute, October 2015.
“The Risks of Military Escalation against Daesh,” Jordan Business (Amman), March 2015.
“Inflating the Salafi Threat in Jordan” (with Wael Al-Khatib), MENA Source (Atlantic Council), 5 December 2014.
“The Mirage of Economic Appeasement,” Jordan Business (Amman), October 2013.
“Jordan in the Balance: Evaluating Regime Stability,” CTC Sentinel, Vol. 6: No. 1 (January 2013): 5-7.
“Jordan’s New Politics of Tribal Dissent” (with Wael Al-Khatib), Foreign Policy (Middle East Channel), 7 August 2012.
“The Survival of the Arab Monarchies,” Foreign Policy (Middle East Channel), 12 November 2012.
“A Stable Instability Emerges in Jordan,” World Politics Review, 15 October 2012.
“Reformation Politics,” Jordan Business (Amman), August 2012.
“Understanding the Resilience of Monarchy during the Arab Spring,” Foreign Policy Research Institute E-Note, April 2012.
“Jordan,” in Freedom House: Countries at the Crossroads 2012 (New York: Freedom House, 2012).
“Jordan’s Fictional Reforms,” Foreign Policy (Middle East Channel), 9 November 2011.
“Jordan Goes Morocco,” Foreign Policy (Middle East Channel), 19 August 2011.
“Obama Must Draw Line in the Sand to Curb Regimes’ Coercion,” Democracy Digest, 18 May 2011.
“Jordan’s Stubborn Regime Hangs in the Balance,” Foreign Policy (Middle East Channel), 31 March 2011.
“Don’t Forget about Jordan: A Regime Caught between Contagion and Consent,” Foreign Policy (Middle East Channel), 2 February 2011.
“Washington’s New Arms Bazaar,” Middle East Report, No. 246 (Spring 2008), pp. 22-31. Reprinted in Arabia Incognita: Dispatches from Yemen and the Gulf, ed. Sheila Carapico (Washington, DC: Just World Books, 2016), pp. 210-15.
“The Dilemmas of American Democracy Promotion in the Arab World,” Yale Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 3: No. 1 (Winter 2008), pp. 131-145.
“Turkey and the Middle East: Challenges, Choices, and Consequences,” Insight Turkey, Vol. 6: No. 1 (Winter 2004), pp. 18-24.
“Power Politics in Central Asia: the Future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Harvard Asia Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Autumn-Winter 2002), pp. 48-54.
“The Two Worlds of Abu Sayyaf,” Foreign Policy in Focus, Aug. 2001.