Mark N Katz

Mark N Katz

Mark N Katz

Professor

Russian foreign policy, especially toward the Middle East; Transnational revolutionary movements

Mark N. Katz, Professor of Government and Politics, began teaching at George Mason University in 1988.  He writes on Russian foreign policy, the international relations of the Middle East, transnational revolutionary movements, and other subjects.  

During 2017, he was a visiting scholar first at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (January-March), and then at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki (April-September).  During 2018, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London (January-March), and then the 2018 Sir William Luce Fellow at Durham University in the UK (April-June).  In February 2019, he was appointed a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Links to his recent articles can be found at www.marknkatz.com 

Current Research

Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East (especially Arabia and the Gulf)

Russian-American relations

Selected Publications

“When the Friend of My Friends Is Not My Friend: The United States, US Allies, and Russia in the Middle East,” Atlantic Council Issue Brief, May 2019.

“Syria and the Middle East: Fracture Meets Fracture,” in Anna Ohanyan, ed., Russia Abroad: Driving Regional Fracture in Post-Communist Eurasia and Beyond (Georgetown University Press, 2018).

“Support Opposing Sides Simultaneously: Russia’s Approach to the Gulf and the Middle East,” Al Jazeera Center for Studies, August 23, 2018.

"Better Than Before: Comparing Moscow's Cold War and Putin Era Policies toward Arabia and the Gulf," Durham Middle East Paper No. 96/Sir William Luce Fellowship Paper No. 19, Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Durham University, August 2018.

“Russia and Israel: An Improbable Friendship,” in Nicu Popescu and Stanislav Secrieru, eds., “Russia’s Return to the Middle East: Building Sandcastles?” Chaillot Paper no. 146, European Union Institute for Security Studies, July 2018.

“The US-Russia Relationship," in Mika Aaltola et al., eds., Between Continuity and Change: Making Sense of America’s Evolving Global Engagement (Finnish Institute of International Affairs,  Report no. 54, 2018).

“Putin and Russia’s Strategic Priorities,” in Ashley J. Tellis, Alison Szalwinski, and Michael Wills, eds., Strategic Asia 2017-18: Power, Ideas, and Military Strategy in the Asia-Pacific (The National Bureau of Asian Research, 2017).

“Fluid Dynamics: Global Great Powers in the 21st Century,” Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Working Paper, no. 100, October 24, 2017.

“America’s Dilemma: Dealing with Multiple Adversaries Simultaneously,” Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Working Paper, no. 96, June 15, 2017.

“The Gulf and the Great Powers: Evolving Dynamics,” Middle East Policy, Summer 2017.

“Saudi Arabia and Russia,” in Neil Partrick, ed., Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy:  Conflict and Cooperation (I.B. Tauris, 2016).

Expanded Publication List

Books

Leaving Without Losing: The War on Terror after Iraq and Afghanistan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).

Editor, Revolution:  International Dimensions (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2001).

Reflections on Revolutions (St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan, 1999).

Revolutions and Revolutionary Waves (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan, 1997).

Editor, Soviet-American Conflict Resolution in the Third World (U.S. Institute of Peace Press, 1991).

Editor, The USSR and Marxist Revolutions in the Third World (Cambridge University Press/Wilson Center, 1990).

Gorbachev's Military Policy in the Third World (Praeger/Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1989).

Russia and Arabia:  Soviet Foreign Policy toward the Arabian Peninsula (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986).

The Third World in Soviet Military Thought (Johns Hopkins University Press/Croom Helm, 1982—reissued by Routledge, 2011).

Articles

“Fluid Dynamics: Global Great Powers in the 21st Century,” Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Working Paper, no. 100, October 24, 2017.

“America’s Dilemma: Dealing with Multiple Adversaries Simultaneously,” Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Working Paper, no. 96, June 15, 2017.

“The Gulf and the Great Powers: Evolving Dynamics,” Middle East Policy, Summer 2017.

“Silver Lining in the Clouds?  Prospects for Trump-Putin Cooperation in the Middle East,” The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, March 30, 2017.

“The Russian Approach to Middle East Conflicts and the Arab World,” IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook, 2016.

“The GCC View of Russia: Diminishing Expectations,” The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, July 28, 2016.

“Russian-Iranian Relations after the Iranian Nuclear Accord,” Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, June 29, 2016.

“Geopolitics and Terrorism in the 21st Century,” Revista ORBE, May 2016.

“The Russian Approach to Middle East Conflicts and the Arab World,” IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook, 2016.

“Estrategia geopolítica rusa en el Mediterráneo,” Afkar/Ideas, no. 48, Winter 2015/2016.

“Convergent Hopes, Divergent Realities: Russia and the Gulf in a Time of Troubles,” The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, November 6, 2015.

“Ukraine and the Future of NATO,” Al Jazeera Center for Studies, September 15, 2015.

“Conflicting Aims, Limited Means: Russia in the Middle East,” FRIDE Policy Brief no. 201, May 2015.

“Aggression und Reaktion:  Russland, die Ukraine und der Westen,” OSTEUROPA,  nos.1-2, 2015 (English version published and German version republished by Eurozine, May 6, 2015).

“The International Relations of the Arab Spring,” Middle East Policy, Summer 2014.

“Can Russian-U.S. Relations Improve?” Strategic Studies Quarterly, Summer 2014.

“Russia and the Conflict in Syria:  Four Myths,” Middle East Policy, Summer 2013.

“The Arab Spring and the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict:  International Implications” Russia in Global Affairs, January-March 2013.

“Russia, Iran, and Central Asia:  Impact of the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Iran Regional Forum, George Washington University Central Asia Program, February 2013.

“The Impact of the Arab Spring on Saudi-Russian Relations,” ORIENT, IV, 2012.

“Russia and Iran,” Middle East Policy, Fall 2012.

“Moscow and the Middle East:  Repeat Performance?” Russia in Global Affairs, July-September 2012.

“Russia’s Security Council Diplomacy and the Middle East,” Russian Analytical Digest, June 4, 2012.

“What Would a Democratic Russian Foreign Policy Look Like?” New Zealand International Review, March/April 2012.

“Externally and Internally Driven Attempts at Democratization:  The Role of Islamic Radicals,” ORIENT, IV, 2011.

“Russia and the Arab Spring,” Russian Analytical Digest, July 6, 2011.

“Russia’s Policy toward the Middle East,” Russian Analytical Digest, September 28, 2010.

“Russian-Iranian Relations in the Obama Era,” Middle East Policy, Summer 2010.

“Russia’s Greater Middle East Policy,” Institut français des relations internationals (IFRI), Russie.Nei.Visions, no. 49, April 2010.

“Obama’s Approach to Russia and Iran,” Middle East Strategy at Harvard, Middle East Papers No. 8, December 14, 2009.

“Russian-Iranian Relations: Functional Dysfunction,” Mideast Monitor, July-August 2009.

“Saudi-Russian Relations since the Abdullah-Putin Summit,” Middle East Policy, Spring 2009.

“Implications of the Georgian Crisis for Israel, Iran, and the West,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, December 2008.

“The Russian-Libyan Rapprochement:  What Has Moscow Gained?” Middle East Policy, Fall 2008.

“Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization:  Moscow’s Lonely Road from Bishkek to Dushanbe,” Asian Perspective, September 2008.

“Will There Be Any More Democratic Revolutions?” Nonviolent Social Change, May 2008.

“Russian-Iranian Relations in the Ahmadinejad Era,” The Middle East Journal, Spring 2008.

“Comparing Putin’s and Brezhnev’s Policies toward the Middle East,” Society, March-April 2008.

“The Emerging Saudi-Russian Partnership,” Mideast Monitor, January-March 2008.

“Russia and Algeria:  Partners or Competitors?” Middle East Policy, Winter 2007.

“Russian Foreign Policy: Assertive, but Alone,” The World Today, November 2007.

 “Will There Be Revolution in Central Asia?” Communist and Post-Communist Studies, June 2007.

“Non-Democratic Revolutions and Attempts at State Breakup: Is There a Connection?” World Affairs, Winter 2007.

“The Putin-Chavez Partnership,” Problems of Post-Communism, July-August 2006.

 “Revolutionary Change in Central Asia,” World Affairs, Spring 2006.

“Putin’s Foreign Policy toward Syria,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, March 2006.

“Primakov Redux?  Putin’s Pursuit of ‘Multipolarism’ in Asia,” Demokratizatsiya, Winter 2006.

“Iran and America: Is Rapprochement Finally Possible?” Middle East Policy, Winter 2005.

“Transnational Revolutionary Ideologies,” Society, September/October 2005.

“Less Than Great Expectations:  The Pakistani-Russian Rapprochement,” Current History, March 2005.

“Putin’s Pro-Israel Policy,” Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2005.

“Exploiting Rivalries for Prestige and Profit: An Assessment of Putin’s Foreign Policy Approach,” Problems of Post-Communism, May-June 2005.

“Assessing the Political Stability of Oman,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, September 2004.

“Saudi-Russian Relations Since 9/11,” Problems of Post-Communism, March-April 2004.

“Democratic Revolutions: Why Some Succeed, Why Others Fail,” World Affairs, Winter 2004.

“Losing Balance: Russian Foreign Policy toward Iraq and Iran,” Current History, October 2003.

“Playing the Angles: Russian Diplomacy Before and During the War in Iraq,” Middle East Policy, Fall 2003.

“What Do We Do If the Saudi Monarchy Falls?” Comparative Strategy, January-March 2003.

“Breaking the Yemen-Al Qaeda Connection,” Current History, January 2003.

“Osama bin Laden as Transnational Revolutionary Leader,” Current History, February 2002.

“Russian-Iranian Relations in the Putin Era,” Demokratizatsiya, Winter 2002.

 “Revolution: Refining Its Defining” (with J. Milton Yinger), International Journal of Group Tensions, Winter 2001.

“Saudi-Russian Relations in the Putin Era,” The Middle East Journal, Autumn 2001.

“Unfaithful Allies,” Northwestern Journal of International Affairs, Summer 2001.

 “The United States and Iran:  Ready for Rapprochement?” SAIS Review, Summer-Fall 1998.

“The Embourgeoisement of Revolutionary Regimes:  Reflections on Abdallah Laroui,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, July-September 1998.

“Post-Soviet Russian Foreign Policy toward the Middle East,” The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, 1996 [1998].

“Election Day in Aden,” Middle East Policy, September 1997.

“Central Asian Stability: Under Threat?” SAIS Review, Winter-Spring 1997.

“Africa's Borders:  European Borders, Contested Rule,” Current History, April 1995.

“Nationalism and the Legacy of Empire,” Current History, October 1994.

 “The Legacy of Empire in International Relations,” Comparative Strategy, October-December 1993.

“Yemeni Unity and Saudi Security,” Middle East Policy, 1992.

“Superpower Conflict Resolution:  Lessons for the Future,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November 1991.

“Beyond the Reagan Doctrine:  Reassessing U.S. Policy toward Regional Conflicts,” The Washington Quarterly, Winter 1991.

 “Why Does the Cold War Continue in the Third World?” Journal of Peace Research, November 1990.

“Can the Superpowers Plot Peace?” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 1990.

“The Decline of Soviet Power:  Implications for International Relations,” Survival, January-February 1990.

“Evolving Soviet Perceptions of U.S. Strategy,” The Washington Quarterly, Summer 1989.

“Soviet Policy in the Middle East,” Current History, February 1988.

“Soviet Military Policy toward the Third World,” The Washington Quarterly, Fall 1986.

“Civil Conflict in South Yemen,” Middle East Review, Fall 1986.

“The Soviet Union and the Third World,” Current History, October 1986.

“The Anti-Soviet Insurgencies:  Growing Trend or Passing Phase?” Orbis, Summer 1986.

“Soviet Policy in the Gulf States,” Current History, January 1985.

“Sanaa and the Soviets,” Problems of Communism, January-February 1984.

“The Soviet-Cuban Connection,” International Security, Summer 1983.

“On the Significance of V.M. Kulish,” Studies in Soviet Thought, April 1983.

“The Origins of the Vietnam War,” The Review of Politics, April 1980.

Chapters

“The Arab Spring and Russian Foreign Policy toward the Middle East.”  In Shahram Akbarzadeh, ed., Routledge Handbook of International Relations in the Middle East (Routledge, 2019).

“Syria and the Middle East: Fracture Meets Fracture,” in Anna Ohanyan, ed., Russia Abroad: Driving Regional Fracture in Post-Communist Eurasia and Beyond (Georgetown University Press, 2018).

“The Middle East,” (with Philipp Casula), in Andrei P. Tsygankov, ed., Routledge Handbook of Russian Foreign Policy (Routledge, 2018).

“The US-Russia Relationship," in Mika Aaltola et al., eds., Between Continuity and Change: Making Sense of America’s Evolving Global Engagement (Finnish Institute of International Affairs,  Report no. 54, 2018).

“Russian and Western Engagement in the Broader Middle East,” in Daniel S. Hamilton and Stefan Meister, eds., The Russia File: Russia and the West in an Unordered World (Center for Transatlantic Relations/German Council on Foreign Relations, 2017).

“Putin and Russia’s Strategic Priorities,” in Ashley J. Tellis, Alison Szalwinski, and Michael Wills, eds., Strategic Asia 2017-18: Power, Ideas, and Military Strategy in the Asia-Pacific (The National Bureau of Asian Research, 2017).

“Saudi Arabia and Russia,” in Neil Partrick, ed., Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy:  Conflict and Cooperation (I.B. Tauris, 2016).

“Transnational Revolutionary Ideologies and Movements,” in Erik Brattberg and Daniel S. Hamilton, eds., Global Flow Security: A New Security Agenda for the Transatlantic Community (Center for Transatlantic Relations, 2014).

“Mechanisms of Iran-US Rapprochement: Lessons from the Past,” in Fatima Al-Smadi and Malak Chabkoun, eds., Iran-US Rapprochement:  Iran’s Future Role (Al Jazeera Center for Studies, 2014). 

“Pakistan and the ‘War on Terror,’” in Rachel E. Utley, ed., 9/11—Ten Years After:  Perspectives and Problems (Ashgate, 2012).

“Iran and Russia: Wary Cooperation,” in Michel Makinsky, ed., L’Iran et les grands acteurs régionaux et globaux (L’Harmattan, 2012).

“Iran and Russia,” in Robin Wright, ed., The Iran Primer (Washington, DC:  U.S. Institute of Peace/Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2010).

“The Shanghai Cooperation Organization—A View from the U.S.,” in Akihiro Iwashita, ed., Toward a New Dialogue on Eurasia: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Its Partners (Hokkaido University Slavic Research Center, 2007).

“Russia’s Security Challenges,” in Akihiro Iwashita, ed., Eager Eyes Fixed on Eurasia, vol. 1:  Russia and Its Neighbors in Crisis (Hokkaido University Slavic Research Center, 2007).

“Prospective Impacts of Russia and Iran,” in Richard M. Auty and Indra de Soysa, eds., Energy, Wealth and Governance in the Caucasus and Central Asia:  Lessons Not Learned (Routledge, 2006).

“Assessing Saudi Susceptibility to Revolution,” in Joseph A. Kechichian, ed., Iran, Iraq, and the Arab Gulf States (Palgrave, 2001).

 “Collapsed Empires,” in Chester A. Crocker and Fen Osler Hampson, eds., Managing Global Chaos (U.S. Institute of Peace Press, 1996).

“Mechanisms of Conflict Resolution,” in I. William Zartman and Victor A. Kremenyuk, eds., Cooperative Security:  Reducing Third World Wars (Syracuse University Press, 1995).

“Emerging Patterns in the International Relations of Central Asia,” in Adeed Dawisha and Karen Dawisha, eds., The Making of Foreign Policy in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (M. E. Sharpe, 1995).

“External Powers and the Yemeni Civil War,” in Jamal S. al-Suwaidi, ed., The Yemeni War of 1994:  Causes and Consequences (Saqi Books/The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 1995).

“America's Post-Cold War Military Policy in the Third World,” in Mohiaddin Mesbahi, ed., Russia and the Third World in the Post-Soviet Era (University Press of Florida, 1994).

“Analyzing the Changing Foreign and Domestic Policies of the Former USSR,” in Andrew A. Michta and Ilya Prizel, eds., Postcommunist Eastern Europe:  Crisis and Reform (St. Martin's Press, 1992).

 “Soviet Military Policies in the Third World,” (with Robert S. Litwak) in Bruce Parrott, ed., The Dynamics of Soviet Defense Policy (Wilson Center Press, 1990).

“Moscow and the Gulf War,” in Christopher C. Joyner, ed., The Persian Gulf War:  Lessons for Strategy, Law, and Diplomacy (Greenwood Press, 1990).

“Soviet Interests in the Gulf,” in M.E. Ahrari, ed., The Gulf and International Security (Macmillan, 1989).

“The Evolution of the Brezhnev Doctrine under Gorbachev,” in Kurt M. Campbell and S. Neil MacFarlane, eds., Gorbachev's Third World Dilemmas (Routledge, 1989).

“Gorbachev's African Policy,” in Robert I. Rotberg, ed., Africa in the 1990s and Beyond (Reference Publications, 1988).

Grants and Fellowships

Sir William Luce Fellowship, Durham University (UK), Easter Term (late April—late June) 2018.

Fulbright Scholarship, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, January-March 2018.

Earhart Foundation Fellowship Research Grants, Summer 1997, Summer 2001, Summer 2004, Summer 2005, Summer 2006, and Spring 2015.

Kennan Institute Short-Term Grant, January 2008.

Hokkaido University Slavic Research Center 21st Century Center of Excellence Program Foreign Visitors Fellowship, June-July 2007.

National Endowment for the Humanities Stipend, Summer 1995.

United States Institute of Peace Grant, September 1994-May 1995.

Earhart Foundation Fellowship Research Grant, September 1993-May 1994.

United States Institute of Peace Jennings Randolph Peace Fellowship, June 1989-May 1990.

Kennan Institute Research Scholarship, February-August 1985.

Rockefeller Foundation International Relations Fellowship, September 1982-November 1984.

Brookings Institution Research Fellowship, September 1980-August 1981.

Earhart Foundation H. B. Earhart Fellowships, Summer 1980, and Fall 1981.

Institute for the Study of World Politics Fellowship, September 1979-May 1980.

Courses Taught

Spring 2020:

GOVT 447--Revolution and International Politics

GOVT 731--Revolutions

Fall 2019:

GOVT 338--Government and Politics of Russia

Govt 540--International Relations

Spring 2019:

GOVT 444--The War on Terror

GOVT 731--Seminar on Russia

Education

Ph.D. in Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, February 1982.

M.A. in International Relations, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, May 1978.

B.A. in International Relations, University of California at Riverside, June 1976.

Recent Presentations

“Always Looming:  The Russian Muslim Factor in Moscow’s Relations with Gulf Arab States,” Workshop on “Russia’s Islamic Diplomacy:  Institutions, Informality, and Believers,” George Washington University Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies/Central Asia Program, April 29, 2019.

“Not Getting Any Easier: Putin’s Middle East Balancing Act,” Workshop on “Russia’s Reshaped Role in the Middle East,” George Washington University Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies/Central Asia Program, December 7, 2018.

“Changing Great Power Politics and US-Russia Relations,” 5th Annual Helsinki Summer Session, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, August 21, 2018.

“Better than Before?  Comparing Moscow’s Cold War and Putin-Era Policies toward Arabia and the Gulf,” Sir William Luce Lecture, Trevelyan College, Durham University, June 14, 2018, Durham, UK.

“Balancing Act:  Russia between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” London School of Economics Middle East Centre Workshop on “Saudi Arabia and Iran: Beyond Conflict and Co-Existence?” May 8, 2018, London.

“Russia and the Middle East: Putin’s Balancing Act,” St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, February 28, 2018.

“What Do They See in Him? How the Middle East Views Putin and Russia,” School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, February 7, 2018.

“Russia-Iran,” Conference on “Iran in the World,” Trinity University, October 20-21, 2017, San Antonio, TX.

"Prospects for Russian, American, and European Cooperation in the Middle East,” Workshop on “Russia in the Mediterranean: Strategies and Aspirations,” Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Regional Program South Mediterranean, September 25-26, 2017, Tunis, Tunisia.

In the Media

C-SPAN2, May 30, 2019

Jiji Press (Japan), July 15, 2018

BBC World Service “Newsday,” June 13, 2018

Al Jazeera, November 17, 2017, December 14, 2017, June 29, 2018, July 16, 2018

CNBC Asia, November 1, 2017