ESSAYS, REPORTS, AND MEDIA COMMENTARY

I write extensively on topics related to conflict, violence, gender, disaster, and military organizations, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa. My broader intellectual engagement addresses issues related to the ethical, methodological, and security challenges of research in fragile and violence-affected spaces in addition to the politics of knowledge creation. This work is linked below.

I have provided commentary on the Israel-Palestine conflict and war in Lebanon for media outlets such as Financial Times, BBC Newsday, Bloomberg News, Los Angeles Times, Salon, USA Today, Vox, VOA, Newsweek, and ABC News. My analysis has been featured by the BBC, Washington Post, and Sky News regarding non-state armed actors’ responses to Covid-19, the implications of military involvement in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the sociopolitical context of Covid-19 in the Middle East, the consequences of IRGC Major General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination for Lebanese and Iraqi politics, women’s recruitment into and participation in ISIS, refugees and displaced persons, the politics of humanitarian aid, and the Syrian Civil War.

In a somewhat different vein, I have also been interviewed by outlets including the BBC, Radio France Internationale, France Inter, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation regarding the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

THE MIDDLE EAST

Front page of a clandestine Palestinian newspaper published in 1980s Lebanon

Front page of a clandestine Palestinian newspaper published in 1980s Lebanon

“The U.S. Must Support Gaza Before Winter.” Foreign Policy. November 21, 2024. With Feroze Sidhwa (PDF)

“Targeted Killings Won’t Destroy Hezbollah.” Foreign Affairs. November 11, 2024. With Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl.

“Israel is Weaponizing Forced Displacement—Again.” Foreign Policy. October 11, 2024. With Lama Mourad (PDF)

“A closer look at the Gaza casualty data.” Good Authority. December 14, 2023. With Marc Lynch.

“The Ghosts of Lebanon.” Foreign Affairs. November 14, 2023.

“Lebanese protestors don’t trust their government to reform. Here’s why.” The Monkey Cage. October 23, 2019. With Faten Ghosn.

“The West Needs to Take the Politics of Women in ISIS Seriously.” Foreign Policy. March 4, 2019. With Kanisha D. Bond, Kate Cronin-Furman, Meredith Loken, Milli Lake, and Anna Zelenz.

“Educational Aftershocks for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon.” Middle East Research and Information Project Blog. September 7, 2014.

“(In)discriminate language on Gaza.” The Monkey Cage. August 7, 2014. With Eugene Finkel.

"Refugee 101: Palestinians in Lebanon Show Refugees from Syria the Ropes." Middle East Report Online. April 3, 2014

 
The ruins of Khiam prison camp in South Lebanon

The ruins of Khiam prison camp in South Lebanon

CONFLICT & DISASTER

“Preparing Political Science for Disaster.” APSA Comparative Politics Newsletter 30(2): Fall 2020. With Valerie deKoeijer.

“When do they shoot? The social origins of officers’ disobedience.” Political Violence @ a Glance. June 29, 2020. With Eric Hundman.

“Acting ‘as if’ during Pandemic: Information and Authoritarian Practice in the White House.” Items. The Social Science Research Council. June 25, 2020.

"How to watch 'Star Wars' like an insurgent." The Monkey Cage. December 15, 2017.

“Wartime sexual violence is not just a ‘weapon of war.’” The Monkey Cage. September 24, 2014. With Kerry F. Crawford and Amelia Hoover Green.

 

METHODOLOGY, ETHICS, AND FIELD PREPAREDNESS

“Lessons from Conflict Studies for Research during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Items. The Social Science Research Council. July 2, 2020. With Kanisha D. Bond and Milli Lake.

“The Dignity of Complexity: Being Human in Political Science.” Qualitative and Multi-Method Research 16(1): 39-41. (Special symposium in memory of Dr. Lee Ann Fujii).

“The Ethics of Fieldwork Preparedness.” Political Violence @ a Glance. With Milli Lake.

“Through the Looking Glass: Information Security and Middle East Research.” POMEPS Studies 24: New Challenges to Public and Policy Engagement. Washington, DC: Project on Middle East Political Science.

“Transparency in Intensive Research on Violence: Ethical Dilemmas and Unforeseen Consequences.” Qualitative and Multi-Method Research 13(1): 22-27. With Elisabeth Jean Wood. 

“Towards an Ethics of Sight: Violence Scholarship and the Arab Uprisings.” London School of Economics Middle East Center Blog. 

“Practical Ethics: How U.S. Law and the “War on Terror” Affect Research in the Middle East.” POMEPS Studies 8: Ethics and Research in the Middle East. Washington, DC: Project on Middle East Political Science.