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Killian Clarke

@kbclarke.bsky.social
287 followers 293 following 26 posts

Scholar of revolution, protest, Middle East Assistant Professor at Georgetown SFS Website: www.killianclarke.com

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Reposted by Killian Clarke
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 07/09/2026
Congratulations to Killian Clarke, co-winner of the Best Book Award (Democracy & Autocracy section) for Return of Tyranny. cup.org/4xbKunp #APSAPrizes #AcademicExcellence #PolSky
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I’m excited to be holding an author-meets-critic roundtable on my book at @apsa.bsky.social this year, with a stellar lineup of discussants: Jack Goldstone, Tomila Lankina, @lisablaydes.bsky.social, and @pstaniland.bsky.social. Please join us on Saturday 9/5 at 2pm!
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Reposted by Killian Clarke
Anne Meng @annemeng.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🚨 New in @apsrjournal.bsky.social! 🚨How do the origins of authoritarian regimes shape their subsequent trajectories? @kbclarke.bsky.social @jackpaine.bsky.social and I are excited to share "Rebel Victory and Authoritarian (Dis)Order" /1
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Reposted by Killian Clarke
LSE Middle East Centre @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
In March, we hosted a book launch for @kbclarke.bsky.social's 'Return of Tyranny', a global study of counterrevolutions since 1900 that offers new evidence on how Egypt’s 2011 revolution was reversed. 🎧 Listen to the event recording: soundcloud.com/lsemiddleeas...
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Loved presenting my book at City College and @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social yesterday. Thank you to @dbgreenwald.bsky.social for arranging the talks, to MEMEAC for hosting, and to @jillianschwedler.bsky.social and Guillermo Sardi Garcia for excellent discussant comments
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Happening today!
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Really looking forward to talking about my book, Return of Tyranny, on March 3 at LSE’s @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social. If you are in London, please come! Details 👇
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Had a great conversation with @edinur.bsky.social on @apublicaffair.bsky.social about my book…and many other things! We talked about global democratic backsliding, the strengths and weaknesses of today’s social movements, and forms of tyranny past and present. Thanks for having me!
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
🚨🚨 Junior scholars working on Middle East politics (broadly defined): Have your advisers / mentors nominate your dissertation for the 2026 @apsamena.bsky.social best dissertation award! Senior scholars: please nominate your students! Deadline is Sunday, Feb 1
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
What a treat to be featured on one of my favorite podcasts. I had a great conversation with @abuaardvark.bsky.social about my new book. Thank you @pomeps.bsky.social for hosting me and for continuing to promote new MENA political science research
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Reposted by Killian Clarke
Stanford CDDRL @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Democratic revolutions can be powerful — and fragile. Georgetown School of Foreign Service assistant professor Killian Clarke joined CDDRL to discuss why counterrevolutions emerge even after successful uprisings. ow.ly/uj8c50XEnhu
ow.ly
The Fragility of Democratic Revolutions: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and
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Reposted by Killian Clarke
Georgetown School of Foreign Service @georgetown-sfs.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
One year in, has Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) restored order to Syria and brought justice to the victims of the Assad dictatorship? Professor @kbclarke.bsky.social spoke to us about the current environment and what the near-term future looks like. Read more: bit.ly/4iVg574
sfs.georgetown.edu
Five questions about Syria one year after Assad’s ouster | School of Foreign Service | Georgetown
On December 8, 2024, the dictator who had led Syria for more than two decades was ousted from power in a rebel offensive. In the year since Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, Syrians have attempted to re...
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
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...
newbooksnetwork.com
Killian Clarke, "Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed" (Cambridge UP, 2025) - New Books Network
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Reposted by Killian Clarke
Mortara Center for International Studies, Georgetown University @mortaracenter.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
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!
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Reposted by Killian Clarke
Crown Center for Middle East Studies @mes-crown.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
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
brandeis.edu
A Thousand Saddams: The Fate of Iraq’s Democracy
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Happening tomorrow!! In-person @mortaracenter.bsky.social @georgetown-sfs.bsky.social and online!
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
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
tinyurl.com
Book Launch: Return of Tyranny
Join us at the Mortara Center for the launch of Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed, by Professor Killian Clarke. Thi...
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
🚨🚨 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
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
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
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
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 🔥
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Killian Clarke @kbclarke.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
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 👇
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Reposted by Killian Clarke
Sho Walker-Konno @shokon.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
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.
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