Killian Clarke
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kbclarke.bsky.social
Killian Clarke
@kbclarke.bsky.social
240 followers 280 following 19 posts
Scholar of revolution, protest, Middle East
Assistant Professor at Georgetown SFS
Website: www.killianclarke.com
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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
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