Expertise

Middle East, Arab World, Democracy, Authoritarianism, Regimes, Development, Comparative

Biography

Sean Yom is Associate Professor of Political Science at Temple University and Senior Fellow in the Middle East Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a specialist on regimes and governance in the Middle East, especially in Arab monarchies like Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco. His research engages topics of authoritarian politics, democratic reforms, institutional stability, and economic development in these countries, as well as their implications for US foreign policy. His publications include the books From Resilience to Revolution: How Foreign Interventions Destabilize the Middle East (Columbia University Press, 2016), as well as Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa, 9th edition (Routledge, 2020); articles in print journals like Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of International Relations, Studies in Comparative International Development, and Journal of Democracy; and contributions in online venues like Foreign Affairs, Middle East Eye, and the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage. He also advises country-level work with international NGOs, law firms, and sovereign clients. Education: A.B., Brown University (2003); PhD., Harvard University (2009).

Website

Selected Publications

• From Resilience to Revolution: How Foreign Interventions Destabilize the Middle East (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016).
• “Bread, Fear, and Coalitional Politics in Jordan: From Tribal Origins to Neoliberal Narrowing.” In Economic Shocks and Authoritarian Stability: Duration, Financial Control, and Institutions, ed. Victor Shih (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2020).
• “Analytic Transparency, Radical Honesty, and Strategic Incentives,” PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 51, No. 3 (April 2018): 416-421.

Courses Taught

• Foreign Governments
• Middle East Politics
• Democratization around the World

Graduate

• Comparative Core
• Democracy, Autocracy, and Regime Change 
• Qualitative Research Methods