My research examines how political actors bargain over power and resources, and how governments manage media and information, in conflict-affected and authoritarian settings. Afghanistan is my principal empirical case, with comparative interests in external intervention, fragile states, and democratic erosion.
Research agendas
I. Conflict, elite bargains, and political settlements
This agenda examines how political order is negotiated in conflict-affected and fragile states. I am particularly interested in the bargains among elites that shape state-building, ethnic inclusion, and the credibility of national authority, and in how those bargains endure, unravel, or contribute to democratic backsliding.
My current work investigates political settlements and elite contestation in Afghanistan, including the relationship between elections, legitimacy, ethnic politics, and the erosion of the post-2001 republic. It asks when elite bargains stabilise institutions, when they hollow them out, and how conflict reshapes the boundaries of political inclusion.
II. Authoritarian control, media, and journalism
This agenda studies how authoritarian and non-democratic regimes govern the information environment. I examine how rulers use coercion, uncertainty, regulation, selective access, and claims to legitimacy to discipline journalists, mobilise support, and make political control appear durable or normal.
A related strand focuses on journalism in conflict-affected societies: how reporters work under coercive ambiguity, how exile transforms journalistic authority and professional practice, and what human-rights-based journalism can accomplish when domestic civic space collapses.
Approach
Across both agendas, I connect institutions at the national level with the experiences and strategies of political elites, journalists, and civil-society actors. Afghanistan is my principal empirical case, alongside comparative questions relevant to authoritarian, fragile, and conflict-affected settings more broadly.