Broadly interested in questions of transnationalism, power and communication, his primary research interests include global news, social movements, international relations and Middle East politics. Youmans wrote a book, Unlikely Audience: Al Jazeera's Struggle in America (2017), about the Qatari news network's efforts to gain a share of the news market in the United States, 2006-2016. He has been quoted in Salon, Newsweek, Variety and The New York Times, and was a guest on CBC Radio, NPR, Headline News, and ARD. He wrote a regular column for the Gulf News, but has also been published in the Washington Post, Middle East Report, and Nieman Journalism Lab. His paper on CIA recruitment in Arab Detroit won the 2013 Best Paper award in the International Communication Section of the International Studies Association.