His first book, Organizations at War in Afghanistan and Beyond (Cornell University Press, 2008) develops an organizational theory to explain the evolution and outcomes of civil wars, ethnic strife and other territorial conflicts. He organized an international conference at Indiana University on Muslims in Western Politics and is the editor of a volume on the same topic (Muslims in Western Politics, Indiana University Press, 2009). He has researched and traveled extensively in the Middle East, Europe and North Africa. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Middle Eastern politics, politics of Muslims in the West, conflict processes and state building, research design, and comparative politics.