About Marc Lynch

Marc Lynch is associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, where he is the director of the Institute for Middle East Studies. He is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

He publishes frequently on the politics of the Middle East, with a particular focus on the Arab media and information technology, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and Islamist movements. He also works on public diplomacy and strategic communications. His most recent book, Voices of the New Arab Public: Al-Jazeera, Iraq, and Middle East Politics Today, was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Book. 

Recent publications of note include "Politics First: Why Only U.S. Withdrawal Can Spur Iraqi Cooperation" in Foreign Affairs (November 2008) and "Thinking Strategically About Iraq" (with Colin Kahl and Brian Katulis) in Middle East Policy (Spring 2008); "Brothers in Arms: How to Talk to America (Memo to the Muslim Brotherhood)" in Foreign Policy (Sept./Oct. 2007); "Young [Muslim] Brothers in Cyberspace" in Middle East Report (November-December 2007); "Blogging the New Arab Public" in Arab Media and Society (March 2007); and "Al-Qaeda's Media Strategies" in The National Interest (Spring 2006).

Lynch began writing his influential Middle East politics blog Abu Aardvark under a pseudonym in 2002, and began blogging under his own name in the spring of 2005.   Despite (or perhaps because of) the quirky name, Abu Aardvark gained a wide following among Middle East policy professionals, journalists, and academics.