experts
Nathan J. Brown
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

about

Nathan J. Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, is a distinguished scholar and author of nine books on Arab politics and governance, as well as editor of five books. Brown brings his special expertise on Islam and politics, Egypt, Palestine, and Arab law and constitutionalism to Carnegie. Brown’s latest books were published by Oxford University Press  in 2016 and Cornell University Press in early 2012. His current work focuses on religion, law, and politics in the Arab world. For the 2023-24 academic year, Brown is a fellow at the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study in Germany.

In 2023-2024, Brown was a fellow at the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study in Germany.  In 2013, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow; four years earlier, he was named a Carnegie scholar by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Earlier he served as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Fulbright scholar in Egypt, Israel, Qatar, and Kuwait. In addition to his academic work, Brown serves on the board of trustees at the American University in Cairo. He has previously served as an advisor for the committee drafting the Palestinian constitution, USAID, the United Nations Development Program, and several NGOs. For 2013-2015 he was president of the Middle East Studies Association, the academic association for scholars studying the region.

Brown is the author of Autocrats Don't Always Get What They Want (University of Michigan Press, 2024) with Steven D. Schaaf, Julian Waller, and Samer Anabtawi, Lumbering State, Restless Society: Egypt in the Modern Era (Columbia University Press 2021) with Shimaa Hatab and Amr Adly, Arguing Islam After the Revival of Arab Politics (Oxford University Press, 2016); When Victory Is Not an Option: Islamist Movements in Arab Politics (Cornell University Press, 2012); Between Religion and Politics (with Amr Hamzawy, Carnegie 2010); Resuming Arab Palestine (University of California Press, 2003); Constitutions in a Non-Constitutional World: Arab Basic Laws and Prospects for Accountable Government (SUNY Press, 2001); The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts in Egypt and the Arab States of the Gulf (Cambridge University Press, 1997); and Peasant Politics in Modern Egypt (Yale University Press, 1990).

education
PhD, MA, Princeton University, BA, University of Chicago
languages
Arabic, English

All work from Nathan J. Brown

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340 Results
Older man wearing Palestinian keffiyeh kneels on a red and orange prayer rug in front of a red and orange striped mosque wall.
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Israeli Islam Isn’t a Contradiction, but It Isn’t Easy

The surprising and evolving intersections between the Jewish state and Islamic institutions.

· July 30, 2024
Buildings in Ramallah with black water jugs on top.
paper
Palestinians Without Palestine?

Palestinians are still here, but their institutions have decayed much more than diplomats realize.

· June 25, 2024
commentary
Kuwait in Suspended Animation

The emir has just put parliament and the constitution on the backburner, but for what purpose?

· May 16, 2024
commentary
The Polarization of U.S. Campus Protests

While divisive in broader society, their impacts on American Jews and Palestinians thousands of miles away are much more varied.

· May 6, 2024
commentary
The Terrible “Day After” in Gaza

Dislocation, destruction, and continued oversight were always part of Israel’s plan for the post-conflict situation in the Palestinian territory.

· April 17, 2024
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Why an Interim Constitution Could Help Palestine: The Domestic and International Payoffs

Despite the current fragmentation in leadership, Palestine could present itself as a national community under a set of authoritative institutions.

· April 8, 2024
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Governing Gaza After the War
February 29, 2024

What will be the fate of Gazans, who will govern them, and how? What role do regional and global powers play? How can the international community take steps toward a more peaceful future for all involved? Join our panel of experts on different perspectives towards governing Gaza.

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Carnegie’s Compendium on Gaza: An Explanatory Introduction

In a series of texts, several experts have addressed the many dimensions of the current war, at the Israeli, Palestinian, regional, and international levels.

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