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kbclarke.bsky.social
Killian Clarke
@kbclarke.bsky.social
260 followers 290 following 22 posts
Scholar of revolution, protest, Middle East
Assistant Professor at Georgetown SFS
Website: www.killianclarke.com
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kbclarke.bsky.social
Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · Oct 3
🚨🚨 I’m thrilled to share that my book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed, will be published this month with @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org in their Comparative Politics Series
kbclarke.bsky.social
Had a great conversation with @edinur.bsky.social on @apublicaffair.bsky.social about my book…and many other things! We talked about global democratic backsliding, the strengths and weaknesses of today’s social movements, and forms of tyranny past and present. Thanks for having me!
February 14, 2026 at 2:46 PM
kbclarke.bsky.social
🚨🚨

Junior scholars working on Middle East politics (broadly defined): Have your advisers / mentors nominate your dissertation for the 2026 @apsamena.bsky.social best dissertation award!

Senior scholars: please nominate your students!

Deadline is Sunday, Feb 1
apsamena.bsky.social APSA MENA Politics Section @apsamena.bsky.social · 27d
Just under two weeks to go!

Submit nominations for APSA MENA awards for Best Book, Best Article (awards open to Best Fieldwork + Best Dataset), Best Dissertation, and Best APSA Paper by February 1.

Self-nominations are welcome - let's celebrate your work!

Details: apsamena.org/awards/apsa-...
APSA-MENA Section Awards, 2025-26 - APSA MENA POLITICS
The Middle East and North Africa Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) seeks nominations for several awards recognizing exceptional contributions to the field that inte...
apsamena.org
January 27, 2026 at 5:18 PM
kbclarke.bsky.social
What a treat to be featured on one of my favorite podcasts. I had a great conversation with @abuaardvark.bsky.social about my new book. Thank you @pomeps.bsky.social for hosting me and for continuing to promote new MENA political science research
pomeps.bsky.social POMEPS @pomeps.bsky.social · 20d
On this week's episode of the podcast, Killian Clarke joined Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed. Also, Marc shares more academic research on Egypt. Check it out here:
pomeps.org/return-of-ty...
Return of Tyranny (S. 15, Ep. 3) - Project on Middle East Political Science
On this week’s episode of the podcast, Killian Clarke of Georgetown University  joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed. Clarke points ou...
pomeps.org
January 27, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Killian Clarke
stanfordcddrl.bsky.social
Democratic revolutions can be powerful — and fragile.

Georgetown School of Foreign Service assistant professor Killian Clarke joined CDDRL to discuss why counterrevolutions emerge even after successful uprisings. https://ow.ly/uj8c50XEnhu
The Fragility of Democratic Revolutions: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and
ow.ly
December 17, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Killian Clarke
georgetown-sfs.bsky.social
One year in, has Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) restored order to Syria and brought justice to the victims of the Assad dictatorship? Professor @kbclarke.bsky.social spoke to us about the current environment and what the near-term future looks like. Read more: https://bit.ly/4iVg574
Five questions about Syria one year after Assad’s ouster | School of Foreign Service | Georgetown
On December 8, 2024, the dictator who had led Syria for more than two decades was ousted from power in a rebel offensive. In the year since Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, Syrians have attempted to re...
sfs.georgetown.edu
December 15, 2025 at 8:52 PM
kbclarke.bsky.social
I was pleased to talk about Return of Tyranny recently on the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social. Very insightful questions from Miranda Melcher -- we covered a lot! The full episode is available here: newbooksnetwork.com/return-of-ty...
November 21, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Killian Clarke
mortaracenter.bsky.social
Last Thursday, we hosted the launch of SFS Assistant Professor Killian Clarke's new book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed. Congratulations to Professor @kbclarke.bsky.social on this great accomplishment!
November 4, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Killian Clarke
mes-crown.bsky.social
20 years after Saddam Hussein’s fall, what can upcoming elections tell us about the future of #Iraq’s democracy? Read our latest Crown Conversation by Killian Clarke, Candace Lukasik, & Kerem Uşşaklı: www.brandeis.edu/crown/public... | @kbclarke.bsky.social @clukasik.bsky.social
A Thousand Saddams: The Fate of Iraq’s Democracy
www.brandeis.edu
November 3, 2025 at 6:06 PM
kbclarke.bsky.social
Happening tomorrow!!

In-person @mortaracenter.bsky.social @georgetown-sfs.bsky.social and online!
kbclarke.bsky.social Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · Oct 3
There's a book launch at Georgetown on October 30, hosted by @mortaracenter.bsky.social and with my fantastic colleague @laiabalcells.bsky.social as discussant. If you’re in the DC area, please consider joining!
October 29, 2025 at 4:23 PM
kbclarke.bsky.social
Officially published today!! There will be a book launch at Georgetown in a week (now also with a virtual option for those not in DC). More details below 👇 and register here: tinyurl.com/2fdxwmv2
October 23, 2025 at 6:33 PM
kbclarke.bsky.social
🚨🚨 I’m thrilled to share that my book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed, will be published this month with @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org in their Comparative Politics Series
October 3, 2025 at 2:22 PM
kbclarke.bsky.social
Thanks to the @mes-crown.bsky.social for inviting me to write this piece about how oil wealth has empowered Saudi Arabia and the UAE to be the main spoilers of democratic change in the Middle East since 2011
mes-crown.bsky.social Crown Center for Middle East Studies @mes-crown.bsky.social · Mar 27
NEW MIDDLE EAST BRIEF: Why have so many democratic uprisings in the Middle East failed to bring lasting change? @georgetown-sfs.bsky.social asst. prof. @kbclarke.bsky.social argues that oil wealth is a major reason—though not for the reasons usually raised. Find out more:
The New Rentierism in the Middle East: How Gulf Oil Wealth Has Kept Democracy at Bay since 2011
www.brandeis.edu
March 28, 2025 at 1:44 AM
kbclarke.bsky.social
Cool-looking new paper from @annemeng.bsky.social and @anthlittle.bsky.social. If it’s anything like their past work, it’s sure to be 🔥
annemeng.bsky.social Anne Meng @annemeng.bsky.social · Feb 26
🚨New paper alert!🚨 @anthlittle.bsky.social and I are excited to share “Presidential Election Concessions.” We present a new global dataset on concessions in presidential elections in all countries worldwide from 1980 to 2024 /1
February 27, 2025 at 1:11 AM
kbclarke.bsky.social
Pleased to see research I’ve been working on with @annemeng.bsky.social and @jackpaine.bsky.social on rebel regimes featured in the @nytimes.com Interpreter column this week. The piece does a nice job summarizing our paper’s implications for the challenges that may be ahead in #Syria. Link 👇
annemeng.bsky.social Anne Meng @annemeng.bsky.social · Dec 12
My paper with @kbclarke.bsky.social and Jack Paine, “Violent Origins and Authoritarian Order: Divergent Trajectories after Successful Rebellions,” was featured in a NYT article analyzing recent events in Syria! www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/w...
Why Do Some Rebel Governments Last When Others Fall?
One factor matters most, and it could be a problem in Syria.
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2024 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Killian Clarke
shokon.bsky.social
Its become unfashionable/naive to say it, but democracy is still the 'least worst' way of protecting a revolution.

A very timely study from @kbclarke.bsky.social @annemeng.bsky.social @jackpaine.bsky.social analyses 84 times a regime has been overthrown since 1900...

osf.io/preprints/os...
Violent Origins and Authoritarian Order: Divergent Trajectories after Successful Rebellions. Abstract Existing research demonstrates that many authoritarian regimes originating in violent rebellion are exceptionally durable. By contrast, conflict scholarship emphasizes the difficulty of reestablishing order after civil war. Using original data on every regime founded by successful rebellion worldwide from 1900–2020, we demonstrate that rebel regimes follow divergent trajectories: the vast majority are either long-lived (20+ years) or short-lived (less than 5 years). The structure of the founding rebellion explains these divergent trajectories by shaping power- sharing dynamics in the new regime and the nature of conflict recurrence. Regimes founded by unified rebellions (single rebel group) become highly durable autocracies because members credibly share power within the same rebel group. By contrast, regimes founded by fractured rebellions (multiple rebel groups) are usually short-lived. Leaders must attempt to share power across armed rivals, many of whom defect and stage subsequent rebellions. Other rebellion characteristics, like social revolution and leftist ideology, cannot explain these differences.
December 13, 2024 at 9:48 AM