Dr. Jeffrey G. Karam is an assistant professor of political science at the Lebanese American University. He is also an Associate at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a visiting assistant professor of international relations and Middle East politics at Harvard University’s Summer School and Division of Continuing Education.

Before joining LAU, Dr. Karam was a postdoctoral research fellow in the International Security Program at Harvard University’s Belfer Center and a visiting assistant professor of international relations at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies.

Research Interests

As an interdisciplinary and multilingual scholar, Dr. Karam’s research and teaching spans the subfields of International Relations, International Security, American Foreign Relations, and Middle Eastern Studies. His research focuses on the Politics of Intelligence and National Security, US-Middle East Relations, American Foreign Policy, and Revolutions, Coups, and Wars in the Middle East. Dr. Karam is currently finishing his first book on the nexus between American intelligence and foreign policy in the Middle East. His research has been supported by many organizations including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs, the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Christopher Andrew-Michael Handel Award for best article published in Intelligence and National Security during 2017.

Dr. Karam has been invited to give talks and seminars at several institutions including Boston University, Harvard University, and Tufts University. He regularly presents papers, organizes panels, and chairs discussions at the annual meetings of the American Political Science Association (APSA), the International Studies Association (ISA), and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). In addition to a Postdoctoral Fellowship in International Relations and International Security at Harvard University, he holds a PhD in Political Science from Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies, an MA in Political Studies from the American University of Beirut, and a dual BA in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Notre Dame University, Louaize.

Dr. Karam is an avid reader and collector of spy fiction, especially novels by John le Carré and Ben Macintyre, and someday plans to write an espionage novel. He listens to a wide range of popular music that was influenced by the subculture of the 1960s and 1970s, especially genres that connect between popular culture and politics.

He tweets @JGKaram.

Selected Publications

1. Jeffrey G. Karam (ed). The Middle East in 1958: Reimagining A Revolutionary Year. London and New York: I.B. Tauris and Bloomsbury, 2020.
2. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Cautious Revisionism and the Limits of Hegemony in 1958: A Revolutionary Year for the United States in the Middle East” in Jeffrey G. Karam (ed). The Middle East in 1958: Reimagining A Revolutionary Year. London and New York: I.B. Tauris and Bloomsbury, 2020.
3. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Reflections on Beirut Rules: The Wider Consequences of US foreign and Security Policy in Lebanon in the 1980s” (forthcoming in Intelligence and National Security)
4. Jeffrey G. Karam (co-authored with Sana Tannoury-Karam), “The Lebanese Intifada: Observations and Reflections on Revolutionary Times.” Jadaliyya, 10 November 2019.
5. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Misrepresentations of the Revolution have begun.” The Daily Star, 4 November 2019.
6. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Lebanon’s Government Resigned: Here Are Three Possibilities for What’s Next” The Monkey Cage Blog, The Washington Post, 31 October 2019.
7. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Lebanon Finally has A New Government: Here are Three Reasons for Cautious Optimism.” The Monkey Cage Blog, The Washington Post, 31 January 2019.
8. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Lebanon’s Civil Society as an Anchor of Stability.” Middle East Brief no. 117, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, April 2018.
9. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Missing Revolution: The American Intelligence Failure in Iraq, 1958.” Intelligence and National Security, vol. 32, Issue 6, October 2017, p. 693-709.
10. Jeffrey G. Karam, “Beyond Sectarianism: Understanding Lebanese Politics through a Cross-Sectarian Lens.” Middle East Brief no. 107, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, April 2017.

Academic Degrees and Training

• Postdoctoral Fellowship in International Relations and International Security, Harvard University
• PhD in Politics, Brandeis University
• MA in Politics, American University of Beirut
• BA in International Affairs and Diplomacy, Notre Dame University, Louaize