Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University
I am a professor of political science at San Diego State University. Previously, I was the assistant director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion at Columbia University.
I am the author of "Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey" (Cambridge University Press), which received the book award of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. I co-edited (with Alfred Stepan) "Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey" (Columbia University Press). My works have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, and Turkish.
My new book, "Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment: A Global and Historical Comparison" (Cambridge University Press 2019) proposes a comparative understanding of Muslim and Western European countries. It analyzes the problems of violence, authoritarianism, and socioeconomic underdevelopment in the Muslim world from history to present, by criticizing both essentialist and post-colonial explanations.
I have given interviews and written op-eds in a number of media outlets, including Boston’s NPR, China Radio International, Ahval, Ahram Weekly, openDemocracy, Georgetown Berkley Forum, and Montreal Review, on the complex relations between Islam and politics, particularly in Turkey.
Dec 30, 2022 10:23 am UTC| Politics
Predicting the outcome of national elections can be a mugs game. Polls are often wrong, and second-guessing how people will vote months down the line can leave even the most savvy election specialist with egg on their...
Execution for a Facebook post? Why blasphemy is a capital offense in some Muslim countries
Feb 22, 2020 00:14 am UTC| Insights & Views Law
Junaid Hafeez, a university lecturer in Pakistan, had been imprisoned for six years when he was sentenced to death in December 2019. The charge: blasphemy, specifically insulting Prophet Muhammad on Facebook. Pakistan...
There’s an extra $1 billion on the table for NT schools. This could change lives if spent well