His research interests include Gulf politics, Middle East political economy, political violence and radicalization and he has published in journals such as World Politics, Review of International Political Economy, Comparative Studies in Society and History, European Journal of Sociology and International Journal of Middle East Studies. His book about Saudi state-building, Princes, Brokers and Bureaucrats: Oil and State in Saudi Arabia was published by Cornell University Press in 2011. He is the co-author, with Diego Gambetta, of Engineers of Jihad: the Curious Connection between Violent Extremism and Education (with Princeton University Press 2016).