Curtis R. Ryan Ph.D.

RECAPP 2020 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity. Dr. Curtis R. Ryan joined the Department of Government in Justice Studies at Appalachian State University in 2002. He received his B.A. in History and Political Science from Drew University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at a Chapel Hill. Professor Ryan served as a Fulbright Scholar (1992-93) at the Center for Strategic Studies, University of Jordan, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and was twice named a Peace Scholar by the United States Institute of Peace. In addition to his contributions to Middle East Report, Dr. Ryan’s articles on Middle East politics have been published in the Middle East Journal, The British Journal of Middle East Studies, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, World Politics Review, Middle East Insight, Arab Studies Quarterly, Israel Affairs, Orient, Southeastern Political Review, Journal of Third World Studies, Middle East Policy, and the Journal of Middle East Law and Governance. He is the author of three books: Jordan in Transition: From Hussein to Abdullah (Lynne Rienner, 2002), Inter-Arab Alliances: Regime Security and Jordanian Foreign Policy (University Press of Florida, 2009) and Jordan and the Arab Uprisings - Regime Survival and Politics Beyond the State (Columbia University Press, 2018).

There are 23 included publications by Curtis R. Ryan Ph.D.:

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
The Armed Forces And The Arab Uprisings: The Case Of Jordan 2012 1854 The 2011 uprisings across the Arab world have highlighted the importance of civil-military relations across the region. As uprisings against bleak economic conditions and authoritarian rule spread from Tunisia to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria, the d...
Between Iraq And A Hard Place: Jordanian-Iraqi Relations 2000 2866 The strange alliance between Jordan and Iraq has undergone intriguing transformations. Jordan paid a heavy economic price for staying out of the coalition against Iraq during the Gulf war. The strength of domestic pro-Iraqi feeling led Jordan's regim...
Identity Politics, Reform, And Protest In Jordan 2011 1956 In 2011, inspired in part by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, Jordanians too took to the streets calling for change. Their numbers varied from hundreds to thousands, but not to the tens and even hundreds of thousands that had, for example, pour...
Islamist Political Activism In Jordan: Moderation, Militancy, And Democracy 2008 453 While democracy has proven to be a fragile and elusive form of politics in the modern Arab world, Islamist movements have flourished -- ranging from grass-roots pro-democracy activism to militant jihadism and terrorism. Whether Arab politics witnesse...
Jordan: State Interests and Public Spheres: The International Politics of Jordan's Identity 2001 2592 Book review
Jordan and the Rise and Fall of the Arab Cooperation Council 1998 4163 This article examines Jordan's role in the creation of the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC), from its origins to its sudden demise in the turmoil of the 1990-91 Gulf crisis and war. The analysis focuses on three key factors in Jordan's foreign policy, ...
Jordanian Foreign Policy And The Arab Spring 2014 2145 The Arab Spring may have begun in Tunisia in December 2010 with mass protests that ultimately toppled the regime of Zine El Abidin Ben Ali, but that same month, protesters also gathered in Amman's streets, demanding political change. The Jordanian de...
“Jordan First”: Jordan's Inter-Arab Relations and Foreign Policy under King Abdullah II 2004 8113 Examines the Jordanian foreign policy under King Abdullah II particularly within inter-Arab and Middle East politics, as the regime has attempted to maneuver between domestic and regional challenges. Relation of Jordan with Syria and Iraq; Informatio...
Liberalization and Deliberalization in Jordan 2003 1831 Unlike many of its immediate neighbors, the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan has since 1989 allowed for competitive elections, some level of pluralism, and the emergence of civil society. But for Jordanians who support the kingdom’s liberalization process...
The New Arab Cold War And The Struggle For Syria 2012 3423 In his classic study, The Arab Cold War, Malcolm Kerr charted the machinations of inter-Arab politics during an era dominated by Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser. In another renowned work, The Struggle for Syria, Patrick Seale documented the link...
Oasis Or Mirage? Jordan's Unlikely Stability In A Changing Middle East 2015 354 The uprisings beginning in late 2010, known as the Arab Spring, shook the Middle East to its foundations. Yet the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan appeared to be a virtual oasis of calm in the midst of turmoil. In a volatile neighborhood, Jordanian stabil...
The Odd Couple: Ending the Jordanian-Syrian "Cold War" 2006 4668 Of all the bilateral relationships between Arab states, the Jordanian-Syrian relationship has been among the most tumultuous. Jordanian-Syrian relations have, more often than not, been marked by varying degrees of mutual hostility and even violence. ...
Peace, Bread and Riots: Jordan and the International Monetary Fund 1998 7613 Abstract currently unavailable
Political Opposition And Reform Coalitions In Jordan 2011 1764 Jordanian politics has seen decades of pro-reform and pro-democracy political activism, but with little effective change on the Jordanian political system itself. This analysis explains how and why the regime has resisted more than cosmetic reform an...
Political Opposition, Democracy and Jordan's 2003 Elections 2003 1765 After more than two years of delays, the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan in June 2003 held national parliamentary elections in an effort to re-engage its stalled political liberalization process. That process started with a great deal of fanfare in 1989,...
Political Strategies and Regime Survival in Egypt 2001 3807 The article explores the durability of Egypt's republican executive leadership and examines the strategies of survival employed by the three presidential regimes of the country from 1954 to 2000. The presidential regimes of Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser, Anwa...
Political Strategies and Regime Survival in Egypt 2001 10437 The article explores the durability of Egypt's republican executive leadership and examines the strategies of survival employed by the three presidential regimes of the country from 1954 to 2000. The presidential regimes of Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser, Anwa...
Reform Retreats Amid Jordan's Political Storms 2005 1651 An abstract for this item is not available.
Regional Responses To The Rise Of ISIS 2015 566 Many states in the Middle East claim to be waging determined war against ISIS. But no one, save the Kurds, seems to be doing so. Threatening as it is, ISIS is not the top priority of any member of the coalition arrayed against it. Regional responses ...
Return To Democratization or New Hybrid Regime?: The 2003 Elections in Jordan 2004 8373 Abstract currently unavailable
Rev. of Israel, Jordan, and the Peace Process, by Yehuda Lukacs 1998 1678 Book Review
Rev. of The Political Economy of Market Reform in Jordan, by Timothy J. Piro. 1999 975 Book Review
State and Society in Syria and Lebanon 1996 1629 Book review