I am Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations and Fellow of St Antony's College, where I am also a member of the Middle East Centre.
My research focuses on social movements and collective protest in the Arabic-speaking Middle East and North Africa. Methodologically, I am interested in questions of measurement and in exploring creative ways to generate eventful, spatial, and textual data.
My book, Egypt in a Time of Revolution, won the Charles Tilly Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Award. Results of my research have appeared in journals such as the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, and Political Analysis.
I am currently completing a book manuscript on the 1919 Egyptian Revolution.
Publications
Book
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution (Cambridge University Press), 2017
Charles Tilly 2018 Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Book Award, American Sociological Association
Articles
- "Measuring Media Criticism with ALC Word Embeddings" (with Christopher Barrie, Alexandra Siegel, and Mossaab Bagdouri), Political Analysis (Conditionally accepted)
- "Purging to Transform the Post-Colonial State: Evidence from the 1952 Egyptian Revolution" (with Gilad Wenig), Comparative Political Studies, Vol.58, No.1, 2025, pp. 3-42
- "Plots, Attacks, and the Measurement of Terrorism" (with Thomas Hegghammer), Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol.69, No.1, 2025, pp.100-126
- "Online Calls for Protest and Offline Mobilization in Autocracies: Evidence from the 2017 Dey Protests in Iran" (with Muhammad Ali Kadivar, Abolfazl Sotoudeh-Sherbaf, and Christopher Barrie), European Sociological Review, Vol.41, No.1, 2025, pp.84-96
- "Anti-Austerity Riots in Late Developing States: Evidence from the 1977 Egyptian Bread Intifada" (with Ferdinand Eibl and Jeroen Gunning), Journal of Peace Research, Vol.61, No.6, 2024, pp. 952-966
- Best Article Award - Honourable Mention, MENA Politics Section, American Political Science Association
- "Explaining Recruitment to Extremism: A Bayesian Hierarchical Case-Control Approach" (with Roberto Cerina, Christopher Barrie, and Aaron Zellin), Political Analysis, Vol.32, No. 2, 2024, pp. 256-274
- "Beatings, Burnings, and Bombings: Disaggregating Anti-Christian Violence in Egypt, 2013-2018" (with Christopher Barrie and Killian Clarke), Perspectives on Politics, Vol.22, No.2, 2024, pp. 481-500
- Best Article Award - Honourable Mention, MENA Politics Section, American Political Science Association
- "Online Repression and Tactical Evasion: Evidence from the 2020 Day of Anger Protests in Egypt" (with Philipp Lutscher), Democratization, Vol.30, No.3, 2023, pp.325-345
- "Who Supported the Early Muslim Brotherhood?" (with Steven Brooke and Brynjar Lia), Politics and Religion, Vol.15, No.2, 2022, pp. 388-416
- "Unpopular Protest: Mass Mobilization and Attitudes to Democracy in Post-Mubarak Egypt" (withThoraya El-Rayyes), Journal of Politics, Vol.83, No.1, 2021, pp.291-305
- Best Data Set/Quantitative Analysis Award, MENA Politics Section, American Political Science Association
- "After the Massacre: Women's Islamist Activism in Post-Coup Egypt" (with Sarah ElMasry), Middle East Law and Governance, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2020, pp. 86-108
- "Fridays of Revolution: Focal Days and Mass Protest in Egypt and Tunisia" (with Christopher Barrie), Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 2, 2020, pp. 308–324
- “Fraud in the 2018 Egyptian Presidential Election?” Mediterranean Politics, Vol.26, No.1, 2019, pp.117-129
- "Opportunity without Organization: Labor Mobilization in Egypt after the 25th January Revolution" (with Christopher Barrie) Mobilization, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2018, pp. 181-202
- "Social and Institutional Origins of Political Islam" (with Steven Brooke), American Political Science Review , Vol. 112, no. 2, 2018, pp. 376-394.
- “Sticks, Stones, and Molotov Cocktails: Unarmed Collective Violence and Democratization” (with Muhammad Ali Kadivar), Socius , Vol. 4, 2018, pp.1-16
- "The Educational Contexts of Islamist Activism: Elite Students and Religious Institutions in Egypt" (with Michael Biggs), Mobilization , Vol. 1, 2017, pp. 57-76
- “The Army and the People are One Hand! Fraternization and the 25th January Egyptian Revolution” Comparative Studies in Society and History , Vol. 1, 2014, pp. 155-186
Other publications & writing
- "Boycotts and Pro-Palestinian Activism" (with Amytess Girgis and Sean Lee), APSA MENA Politics Section Newsletter, Vol.7, No.1, 2024, pp.45-48
- "Introducing the ACSS Dataverse" (with Charles Kurzman and Seteny Shami), APSA MENA Politics Section Newsletter, Vol.6, No.1, 2023, pp.13-17
- "In 2011, Egyptians quickly tired of protest. Here's why that matters for Sudan and Algeria" (with Thoraya El-Rayyes),Washington Post, 6 Sept, 2019
- "Revisiting the Origins of Political Islam'' (with Steven Brooke), APSA MENA Politics Section Newsletter, Vol.2, No.1, 2019, pp. 3-6
- "Is Protest a Safety Valve against ISIS in Tunisia?" (wth Christopher Barrie), Washington Post, 10 Dec, 2018
- "On the Breadline in Sisi's Egypt" (with Thoraya El-Rayyes), Middle East Report Online, 29 Mar 2017
- "How Egypt's Generals Used Street Protests to Stage a Coup," Washington Post, 3 Jul, 2017
- "Local Religious Leaders and the Rise of Political Islam" (with Steven Brooke), POMEPS Studies 27: Local Politics and Islamist Movements, 2017, pp. 50-54
- "Elite-led Protest and Authoritarian State Capture in Egypt," POMEPS Studies 20: From Mobilization to Counter Revolution, 2016, pp.34-36
- "Who Actually Died in Egypt's Rabaa Massacre?" (with Michael Biggs), Washington Post, 14 Aug, 2015
- "What is the Egyptian Anti-coup Movement Protesting for?" (with Michael Biggs), 4 Apr, 2014
- "How Social Media Spreads Protest Tactics from Ukraine to Egypt," Washington Post, 14 Feb, 2014
- "The Muslim Brothers Take to the Streets," Middle East Report, Issue.269, 2013, pp. 12-17
