Autocrats Can't Always Get What They Want

The Elliott School Book Launch Series, the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, and the Institute for Middle East Studies are pleased to present the book launch for , featuring authors Nathan Brown, Steven Schaaf, Samer Anabtawi, and Julian Waller.

This will be an in-person, on-the-record event, open to the public and media. Guests are welcome to join us at the Elliott School of International Affairs, Room 602 (6th Floor).

About the Event

• 12:00 PM - Opening Remarks, Alyssa Ayres, Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs.
• 12:05 PM - Author Remarks, Nathan Brown, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies; Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs; Julian Waller, Research Analyst, Center for Naval Analyses; Steven Schaaf, Croft Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies, University of Mississippi; and Samer Anabtawi, Lecturer (Assistant Professor) University College London, Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy.
• 12:30 PM - Discussant Remarks, Marlene Laruelle, Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science, Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program.
• 12:45 PM - Q&A.

About the Book

Authoritarianism seems to be everywhere in the political world—even the definition of authoritarianism as any form of non-democratic governance has grown very broad. Attempts to explain authoritarian rule as a function of the interests or needs of the ruler or regime can be misleading. argues that to understand how authoritarian systems work we need to look not only at the interests and intentions of those at the top, but also at the inner workings of the various parts of the state. Courts, elections, security force structure, and intelligence gathering are seen as structured and geared toward helping maintain the regime. Yet authoritarian regimes do not all operate the same way in the day-to-day and year-to-year tumble of politics.

In , the authors find that when state bodies form strong institutional patterns and forge links with key allies both inside the state and outside of it, they can define interests and missions that are different from those at the top of the regime. By focusing on three such structures (parliaments, constitutional courts, and official religious institutions), the book shows that the degree of autonomy realized by a particular part of the state rests on how thoroughly it is institutionalized and how strong its links are with constituencies. Instead of viewing authoritarian governance as something that reduces politics to rulers’ whims and opposition movements, the authors show how it operates—and how much what we call “authoritarianism” varies.

About the Speakers

was appointed dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs and professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University effective February 1, 2021. She is the first woman to serve in the role of permanent dean at the school. Ayres is a foreign policy practitioner and award-winning author with senior experience in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. From 2013 to 2021, she was senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where she remains an adjunct senior fellow.

is Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. He is a distinguished scholar and author of nine books on Arab politics and governance, as well as editor of five books. Brown has expertise on Islam and politics, Egypt, Palestine, and Arab law and constitutionalism. He is the author of multiple books and numerous articles.

In addition to his academic work, Brown serves on the board of trustees at the American University in Cairo. He is also nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He has previously served as an advisor for the committee drafting the Palestinian constitution, USAID, the United Nations Development Program, and several NGOs.

is a Research Analyst in the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA Corporation) and a Professorial Lecturer in Political Science at George Washington University. His research focuses on the politics of authoritarian rule, elite strategic decision-making, civil-military relations, political-military affairs, and ideological illiberalism in post-Soviet Eurasia, Europe, and elsewhere. His academic research has been published widely, including in Communist and Post-Communist Studies, the Journal of Advanced Military Studies, Political Studies Review, and Problems of Post-Communism, and he has written for policy-oriented publications including as Foreign Affairs, War on the Rocks, the National Interest, and American Affairs. He holds a Ph.D in Political Science from George Washington University (2022).

is an Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi in the Department of Political Science and Croft Institute for International Studies. His current research focuses on legal and political accountability in authoritarian regimes, with a regional emphasis on the Middle East and North Africa. He received an undergraduate degree from Drake University in 2013, a master's degree from George Washington University in 2017, and a PhD from George Washington University in 2021.

is an Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics at University College London and Director of the Politics and International Relations Program at UCL's School of Public Policy. His work revolves around social movements and contentious politics in the Middle East and North Africa, comparative LGBTIQ+ politics, and Palestinian politics. His current research focuses on Queer activism, civil society and legal mobilisation under authoritarianism. Anabtawi received his PhD in political science from the George Washington University (GWU). He also holds an MA in international affairs from the University of Chicago, an MA in political science from GWU, and a BSc in politics and economics from Illinois College.

is Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. Laruelle works on the rise of populist and illiberal movements in post-Soviet Eurasia, Europe and the US. She is the former Director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES) and of the Central Asia Program (CAP).

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Elliott School of International Affairs Room 602, 1957 E Street NW, Washington, United States