Research

Social and cultural history of the modern Middle East, particularly Greater Syria (the area of present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Publications

Books
  • Global Muslims in the Age of Steam and Print, 1850-1930 (co-editor, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014).
  • The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).
    —–Revised Edition, 2015.
  • Israel Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War (Cambridge, ENG: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
    —–Revised Edition, 2007.
    —–Revised Edition, 2013.
    —–Italian Edition, Giulio Einaudi Editore SpA, 2007.
    —–Polish Edition, Jagiellonian University Press, 2008.
    —–Portuguese Edition, Edipro, 2015.
  • The Modern Middle East: A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
    —–2nd Edition, 2007.
    —–3rd Edition, 2011.
    —–4th Edition, 2015.
    —–Italian Edition, Giulio Einaudi Editore SpA, 2008
    —–Turkish Edition, 2016.
  • Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass Politics in Syria at the Close of Empire (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998).
Articles
  • “The Arab Uprisings: Lessons to be Learned (and Unlearned),” Forum: “Le rivolte arabe in prospettiva storica,” Il Mestiere di Storico (Italian Society of Contemporary History—SISSCO), 5:1 (June 2013).
  • “‘Modernity,’ ‘Tradition,’ and the Battleground of Gender in Early Twentieth-Century Damascus,” Die Welt des Islams 52 (2012).
  • “Nationalism, Anarchism, Reform: Understanding Political Islam from the Inside Out,” Middle East Policy XVII, 3 (Fall 2010).
  • “‘Arab Nationalism’ Meets Social Theory,” “Pensée: ‘Arab Nationalism’: Has a New Framework Emerged?” International Journal of Middle East Studies 41 (2009).
  • “Al-Qaeda and Anarchism: A Historian’s Reply to Terrorology,” and “Al-Qaeda and Anarchism: A Historian’s Reply to Terrology: Response to Commentaries,” Terrorism and Political Violence 20:4 (2008).
  • “The Politics of Notables Forty Years After,” Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, 40:1 (June 2006).
  • “Globalization, Religion, and Politics in the Middle East: The Current Crisis in Historical Perspective,” Global Development Studies (Winter 2004/Spring 2005).
  • “Islamism and Nationalism: Common Roots, Common Destinies,” Beiruter Blaetter: Mitteilungen des Orient-Institutes Beirut, 10-11 (March 2004).
  • “Zionism and the Representation of ‘Jewish Palestine’ at the New York World’s Fair, 1939-1940,” The International History Review XXII:1 (March 2000).
  • “Modernity and Its Discontents: On the Durability of Nationalism in the Arab Middle East,” Nations and Nationalism 5:1 (January 1999).
  • “The League of Nations and the Question of National Identity in the Fertile Crescent,” World Affairs (Summer 1995).
  • “The Social Origins of Popular Nationalism in Syria: Evidence for a New Framework,” International Journal of Middle East Studies (November 1994).
  • “Demonstrating Communities in Post-Ottoman Syria,” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History XXV:I (Summer 1994).

Honors & Awards

Winner, 2015 Middle East Studies Association Undergraduate Education Award
Outstanding Academic Title, 2006, American Library Association (for The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War)
Faculty Fellow, Center for American Politics and Public Policy, UCLA, 2006-7
Faculty Excellence Award, presented by the UCLA chapter of Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society, 1998