His research interest focuses on Middle East politics, democratic transition, and the politics of democracy promotion. Before joining the AUC he served as a senior research fellow in the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, where he was in charge of the center’s programmes on regional politics and survey research. He earned his Ph.D. in political Science from Northern Illinois University in 1995 for his work on “Decision Making Under Stress: Iraqi Decision Making during the Gulf War”. He is a frequent contributor to newspapers like Al-Ahram, Al-Hayat, Al-Shark Al-Awsat, Nahdat Misr, the Daily Star.