Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring

F. Gregory Gause is professor of political science at the University of Vermont and, since 2010, chair of the department.  He was previously on the faculty of Columbia University (1987-1995) and was Fellow for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (1993-1994).  During the 2009-10 academic year he was Kuwait Foundation Visiting Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.  In spring 2009 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the American University in Kuwait.  In spring 2010 he was a research fellow at the King Faisal Center for Islamic Studies and Research in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His research interests focus on the international politics of the Middle East, with a particular interest in the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf.  He has published three books --  The International Relations of the Persian Gulf (Cambridge University Press, 2010); Oil Monarchies:  Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994); and Saudi-Yemeni Relations:  Domestic Structures and Foreign Influence (Columbia University Press, 1990). His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Middle East Journal, Security Studies, and in other journals and edited volumes. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1987 and studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo (1982-83) and Middlebury College (1984).