I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Binghamton University, specializing in Comparative Politics and International Relations. I expect to complete my degree by May 2025.

My research focuses on state-religion relations, political regimes, public opinion, and political violence, with a particular emphasis on how institutional factors shape and constrain the political strategies of non-state religious actors.

My regional focus includes the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and other Muslim-majority countries.

My methodological approach combines extensive quantitative and qualitative methods, including an original dataset on Islamic movements in 19 MENA countries, field research, and subnational geospatial data to study non-state actors.

You can see my CV here.

Dissertation Project

My dissertation, titled ‘Legitimacy, Survival, and Beyond: Strategic Competition Between States and Islamic Movements,’ examines how institutional factors shape the political strategies of Islamic movements. Specifically, I focus on how state interference in the religious sphere, political regime type, and state capacity influence strategies that range from peaceful democratic engagement to violent anti-regime actions.

I introduce a novel dataset on Islamic movements across 19 countries in the MENA region. The dataset covers a range of variables, including the movements’ use of violence, involvement in forming political parties, the type of political regime they endorse, participation in charitable activities, stance on whether voting is considered un-Islamic, the presence of community-owned schools, and their commitment to the strict implementation of Sharia law, among others. Using this dataset, I identify four distinct strategies adopted by religious groups: political reformist, social reformist, religious communitarian, and radical.