Nathan J. Brown

 

 

Website updated 24 August 2012


Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

The George Washington University

 

Nonresident Senior Associate

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

 

Carnegie web page for Nathan Brown available here


 


 

Curriculum vitae


Education

 

Ph. D., Politics, Princeton University, 1987

Center for Arabic Studies Abroad, Cairo, 1983-4

M.A., Politics, Princeton University, 1983

B.A., University of Chicago, 1980


 

 E-mail: nbrown at gwu.edu


 Current and recent teaching

 
 

 

Undergraduate class, “Comparative Politics of the Middle East” fall 2012

Graduate seminar, “Comparative Politics of the Middle East,” fall 2012

Undergraduate class, “Democracy and Democratization in Global Perspective” spring 2011 

Graduate Seminar, “Democracy and Democratization in Comparative Perspective” spring 2011


 

Selected interviews, testimony, and op-eds available on the web

“Palestine Can Wait…For NowDaily Beast, 20 July 2012

“Dangers Ahead for EgyptThe National Interest, 30 May 2012

“The UN’s Much-Reviled but Helpful AgencyThe Jewish Daily Forward, 28 May 2012

“The Emerging Order in the Middle East,” with Sinan άlgen, Marina Ottaway, and Paul Salem, Carnegie Policy Outlook, May 2012

“Egypt’s Muddy WatersThe National Interest, 4 April 2012

“The Brotherhood Prepares for PowerJewish Daily Forward, 22 January 2012

“The Muslim Brotherhood's Democratic DilemmaThe National Interest, 1 December 2011

“Kuwait's Short 19th CenturyForeign Policy, December 2011

“What Does the U.S. Want to Talk to the Brotherhood About?The National Interest, 9 August 2011

“Rawls Visits the Pyramids,” The National Interest, 23 June 2011

“Why Egyptians Want Mubarak TriedNew York Times “Room for Debate,” 9 June 2011

“The Muslim Brotherhood,” testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Subcommittee on Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis, and Counterintelligence, 13 April 2011

“Israel’s Challenge to the USNew York Times, “Room for Debate,” March 11, 2010

“Gaza’s Sisyphean Existence,” with Michele Dunne, The National Interest, February 26, 2009

“Egypt's Constitutional GhostsForeign Affairs, 15 February 2011

“The New Middle East,” with Marina Ottaway, Karim Sajapour, and Amr Hamzawy, Carnegie report, February 2008

“Arab Spring FeverThe National Interest, August 29, 2007

“Democracy Works—Only Very SlowlyInternational Herald Tribune, July 4, 2007

“Kuwait's Thaw” Newsweek Interview, June 28, 2006

“Unlikely Reformers: Egyptian Judges Challenge the RegimeJurist, June 2006

“Hamas or Chaos,” TomPaine.com, May 2006

“Getting Real with HamasForeign Policy, January 2006

 “Everybody in Arab World Talking About Need for Wide Ranging Reforms,” Council on Foreign Relations Interview with Bernard Gwertzman, March 2004

 

Recent Research

 

 

Books

Constitutionalism, the rule of law & the politics of administration in Egypt & Iran.  (edited book manuscript with Said Arjomand; forthcoming SUNY Press, 2013).

When Victory is Not an Option: Islamist Movements in Arab Politics, to be published by Cornell University Press, January 2012 (Arabic edition published December 2011).

The Dynamics of Democratization: Dictatorship, Development, and Diffusion (edited book, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011)

Between Religion and Politics (with Amr Hamzawy; Carnegie Endowment, 2010)

The Struggle over Democratization in the Middle East (edited with Emad Eldin Shahin; Routledge, 2009)

Palestinian Politics after the Oslo Accords: Resuming Arab Palestine (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003)

 Constitutions in a Nonconstitutional World: Arab Basic Laws & the Prospects for Accountable Government   (SUNY Press, 2001)

 The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts in Egypt and the Gulf  (Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Peasant Politics in Modern Egypt (Yale University Press, 1990)

 

 

Research and commentary on Islamist Parties in the Arab World available on the web

“When Victory Becomes an Option: The Muslim Brotherhood Confronts SuccessCarneige Paper, January 2012

“The Muslim Brotherhood as Helicopter ParentForeign Policy, 27 May 2011

“The Brotherhood’s Coming-Out Party,” Carnegie commentary, 24 March 2011

“Will Slow and Steady Win the Race?” Foreign Policy, 28 February 2011

“Islamists: Politics Beckons Once Again,” Carnegie commentary 22 February 2011

“The Irrelevance of the International Muslim Brotherhood,” Foreign Policy, 20 September 2010

“The Muslim Brotherhood's (and Egypt's) Qutb ConundrumForeign Policy, 17 May 2010

“The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: Islamist Participation in a Closing Political Environment,” with Amr Hamzawy, Carnegie paper, March 2010

“Kuwaiti Democracy in Crisis,” Islam On Line, May 2009

“Kuwait’s 2008 Parliamentary Elections: A Setback for Democratic Islamism,” Carnegie web commentary, May 2008

“The Draft Party Platform of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: Foray Into Political Integration or Retreat Into Old Positions?” with Amr Hamzawy, Carnegie Paper, January 2008

“What Islamists Need to be Clear About: The Case of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood,” Carnegie Web Commentary, February 2007 (with Amr Hamzawy and Marina Ottaway)

“Pushing Toward Party Politics?  Kuwait’s Islamic Constitutional Movement,” Carnegie Paper, January 2007

[Note: Mohammed Hussein Al-Dallal of the Islamic Constitutional Movement issued a response to this paper]

“Jordan and Its Islamist Movement: The Limits of Inclusion?” Carnegie Paper, November 2006

“Islamist Movements and the Democratic Process in the Arab World: Exploring Gray Zones,” Carnegie Paper No. 67, March 2006, with Amr Hamzawy and Marina Ottaway

 

 

Work on Palestinian politics available on the web

“Gaza Five Years On: Hamas Settles in,” Carnegie Paper June 2012

“Is Hamas Mellowing?” Carnegie Web Commentary, 17 January 2012

“Palestine: The Fire Next Time?” Carnegie Web Commentary, 6 July 2011

“No Savior for PalestineForeign Policy 17 June 2011

“Palestinians: The Unsustainable May No Longer be Sustainable,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 22 February 2011

“Studying Palestinian Politics: Scholarship or ScholasticismIsrael Journal of Foreign Affairs, November 2010

“Fayyad Is Not the Problem, but Fayyadism Is Not the Solution to Palestine’s Political Crisis,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 17 September 2010

“Are Palestinians Building a State?” Carnegie Web Commentary, June 2010

“After Abu Mazin? Letting the Scales Fall From Our Eyes,” Carnegie Web Commentary, November 2009

“Palestine: the Schism Deepens,” Carnegie Web Commentary, August 2009

“The Green Elephant in the Room: Dealing with the Hamas Party-State in Gaza,” Carnegie Web Commentary, June 2009

“Palestine and Israel: Time for Plan B,” Carnegie Policy Brief, February 2009

“Middle East Peacemaking Has FailedForeign Policy, February 2009

“Another Look at Israel’s Hamas PortfolioIsrael Journal of Foreign Affairs, 2009

“Pointers for the Obama Administration in the Middle East: Avoiding Myths and Vain Hopes” Carnegie Web Commentary, January 2009

“Can Cairo Reassemble Palestine?” Carnegie Web Commentary, November 2008

“Palestinian Presidential Elections,” Carnegie Web Commentary, July 2008

“Sunset for the Two State Solution?” Carnegie Policy Brief No.58, May 2008

“The Road Out of Gaza,” Carnegie Policy Outlook No. 39, February 2008

“The Peace Process Has No Clothes: The Decay of the Palestinian Authority and the International Response,” Carnegie Web Commentary, June 15, 2007

“Requiem for Palestinian Reform: Clear Lessons from a Troubled Record,” Carnegie Paper, February 2007

“What Can Abu Mazin Do?” Carnegie Web Commentary, October 20, 2006, updated June 15, 2007

“Living with Palestinian Democracy,” Carnegie Policy Brief No. 46, May 2006

“Aftermath of the Hamas Tsunami,” Carnegie Web Commentary, February 2, 2006

“Evaluating Palestinian Reform,” Carnegie Paper 59, June 2005

Translation and commentary on draft Palestinian constitution (May 2003 draft), published by the Palestinian Center for Public Survey Research, October 2003

“The Palestinian Reform Agenda,” Peaceworks report No. 48, United States Institute of Peace, December 2002

“Democracy, History, and the Contest over the Palestinian Curriculum,” paper presented at the Adam Institute Conference on “Attitudes toward the Past in Conflict ResolutionJerusalem, November 2001

“The International Controversy Concerning Palestinian Textbooks,” lecture delivered at the Georg-Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, December 2002.

 Short summary of research on Palestinian textbooks that originally appeared in “Teaching about Terrorism” a publication of CAJE, the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education. 

 

 

Work on Egyptian politics available on the web

“Morsi’s Ramadan Surprise,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 13 August 2012

“The Egyptian Political System in Disarray,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 19 June 2012

“Cairo’s Judicial CoupForeign Policy, 14 June 2012

“Fasten Your Seatbelts: Judicial Turbulence Ahead,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 6 June 2012

“A Guide through the Egyptian Maze of Justice,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 6 June 2012

“Egypt and the Islamic Shari`a: A Guide for the Perplexed,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 15 May 2012.

“Will Egypt Get a New Interim ConstitutionForeign Policy, 23 May 2012

“Egypt’s Transition in Crisis: Falling into the Wrong Turkish Model,” with Marina Ottaway, Carnegie Web Commentary, 30 March 2012

“Egypt’s Transition ImbroglioForeign Policy, 16 April 2012

“Midnight for the SCAF’s Cinderella StoryForeign Policy 19 March 2012

“Egypt’s Judges in a Revolutionary Age,” Carnegie Paper, February 2012

“The Evolution within the RevolutionForeign Policy 28 February 2012

“Landmines in Egypt’s Constitutional Roadmap,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 7 December 2011

“Post-Revolutionary Al-Azhar,” Carnegie Paper, October 2011

“Can the Colossus Be Salvaged? Egypt’s State-Owned Press in a Post-Revolutionary Environment,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 22 August 2011

“The Trial of the Century Foreign Policy, 3 August 2011

“Egypt’s Revolution Stumbles Forward,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 15 June 2011

“A Haphazard Constitutional Compromise,” Carnegie Web Commentary (with Kristin Stilt), 11 April 2011

“Why Nobody Noticed What Egypt’s Opposition Has WonForeign Policy, 28 March 2011

“Egypt’s Revolution Struggles to Take Shape,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 17 March 2011

“Egypt's Syndicalist FutureForeign Policy. 8 March 2011

“Egypt’s Draft Constitutional Amendments Answer Some Questions and Raise Others,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 1 March 2011

“The Struggle to Define the Egyptian RevolutionForeign Policy, 17 February 2011

“An Observer’s Guide to Egyptian Succession,” Carnegie Web Commentary, 17 November 2010

“Egypt—Don’t Give up on Democracy Promotion,” Carnegie Policy Brief, June 2007 (with Michele Dunne and Amr Hamzawy)

“Egypt’s Controversial Constitutional Amendments,” Carnegie Web Commentary, March 2007 (with Michele Dunne and Amr Hamzawy)

“Can Egypt’s Troubled Elections Produce a More Democratic Future,” with Amr Hamzawy, Carnegie Policy Outlook, December 2005

“Egypt’s Judges Step Forward: The Judicial Election Boycott and Egyptian Reform,” with Hesham Nasr,” Carnegie Policy Outlook, May 2005

 

 

Work on Arab legal systems available on the web

“Why Won’t Saudi Arabia Write down its own LawsForeign Policy, 23 January 2012

“Americans, Put Away Your QuillsForeign Policy, 8 November 2011

“Do Tunisians Agree on More Than They Realize?” Foreign Policy, 9 August 2011

Constitutional Rebirth: Tunisia and Egypt Reconstruct Themselves, report presented to the United Nations Development Program, August 2011 (in English and Arabic)

Islamic law and the Egyptian constitution; two article with Clark Lombardi

“Do Constitutions Requiring Adherence to Shari`a Threaten Human Rights? How Egypt's Constitutional Court Reconciles Islamic Law with the Liberal Rule of Law,” 21 American University International Law Review 379-435 (2006)

“The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt on Islamic Law, Veiling and Civil Rights: An Annotated Translation of Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Case No. 8 of Judicial Year 17 (May 18, 1996),” 21 American University International Law Review 437 (2006)

“Islam, Human Rights, and Constitutionalism,” video of lecture delivered at Middlebury College, March 2, 2007

“The Religious Aspects of Arab Constitutions,” video of lecture delivered at Catholic University, February 22, 2006

“Criminal Justice and Prosecution in the Arab World,” study prepared with Hesham Nasr and Jill Crystal for the United Nations Development Program, Program on Governance in the Arab Region,” October 2004

“Constitutions and Accountable Governments in the Arab world,” 2003 Constitution Address, Dickinson College, September 2003

“Judicial Independence in the Arab World,” study prepared with Dr. Adel Omar Sherif of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt for the United Nations Development Program, Program on Governance in the Arab Region, September 2002

“Arab Judicial Structures,” study prepared for the United Nations Development Program, Program on Governance in the Arab Region, August 2001

“Mechanisms of Accountability in Arab Governance: The Present and Future of Judiciaries and Legislatures in the Arab World,” study prepared for the United Nations Development Program, Program on Governance in the Arab Region, December 2001

“Women and Law in the Muslim World,” unpublished paper, 1996

“Arab Administrative Courts and Judicial Control of the Bureaucracy,” paper presented to the annual conference of the Structure of Government Section, International Political Science Association, Ben-Gurion University, Israel , February 1997