My research examines how Islamist movements and other political organizations respond to repression and changing political opportunities. My first book, The Violence Pendulum, explains why Islamist groups in Egypt and Indonesia shift toward or away from violence. My current work follows the Muslim Brotherhood into exile, asking how it adapted to repression and organizational disruption abroad, and contrasting its experience with that of the Tunisian Ennahda. Related work addresses negotiation with armed groups, adaptation and change in Islamist movements, and teaching difficult political topics.
Diaspora Activism and Resilience in Exile
How do movements adapt to repression and organizational disruption in exile, and why do some endure while others decay? How does diaspora activism affect tactical choices for the movement in the home country?
Book in progress: Islamist Activism and Resilience in Exile examines why some Islamist movements remain resilient in exile after repression while others decay, drawing on the cases of Ennahda and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
- Matesan. 2026. “Islamist Diasporic Mobilization and Agency in Exile.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2026.2624638
- Matesan. 2025. “The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the Global Arena.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. Oxford University Press. PRE-PRINT_Matesan_The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the Global Arena
- Berger Hobson and Matesan. 2025. “The Impact of Diasporas on the Tactics of Rebel Groups: The Case of the IRA and Noraid.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 48(11): 1235–1260. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2023.2178079
Repression, Violence, and Restraint
Why do opposition movements turn to violence, what pushes them to step back from it, and when can they be brought to the negotiating table?
Book
The Violence Pendulum (Oxford University Press 2020). Also available on Amazon.
- Review in Terrorism and Political Violence
- Review and Response in Perspectives on Politics
Why movements turn to, and away from, violence
- Matesan. 2020. “Grievances and Fears in Islamist Movements: Revisiting the Link between Exclusion, Insecurity, and Political Violence.” Journal of Global Security Studies, 5(1): 44–62. https://doi.org/10.1093/jogss/ogz042
- Matesan. 2020 (online 2018). “Organizational Dynamics, Public Condemnation and the Impetus to Disengage from Violence.” Terrorism and Political Violence, 32(5): 949–969. PRE-PRINT_Organizational dynamics and disengagement
- Matesan and Berger. 2017. “Blunders and Blame: How Armed Non-State Actors React to their Mistakes.” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 40(5): 376–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2016.1210891
- Matesan. 2012. “What Makes Negative Frames Resonant? Hamas and the Appeal of Opposition to the Peace Process.” Terrorism and Political Violence, 24(5): 671–705. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2011.638347
- Matesan. 2012. “The Impact of the Arab Spring on Islamist Strategies.” Journal of Strategic Security, 5(2): 27–46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26463958
Negotiation and conflict resolution with armed groups
- Matesan. 2022. “Ripeness in Negotiating with Proscribed Terrorist Groups.” Ethnopolitics, 21(2): 178–189. PRE-PRINT_Ripeness negotiating terrorist groups
- Matesan. 2022. “Typological Varieties of Transnational Jihadism and Implications for Conflict Resolution.” Perspectives on Terrorism, 16(1): 12–22. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27107494
- Matesan. 2020. “Failed Negotiations and the Dark Side of Ripeness: Insights from Egypt.” International Negotiation, 25: 463–494.[Matesan_PRE-PRINT_Failed Negotiations and the Dark Side of Ripeness ]
Beyond violence and nonviolence: Adaptability and Change in Islamist Movements
- Matesan. 2020. “Piety, Loyalty, and Adaptability: PKS and the Negotiation of Religious Identity.” In Religion and Politics in Southeast Asia, ed. Amy Freedman, 113–138. New York: Pace University Press. (book chapter)
Teaching and Pedagogy
How can political science classrooms support hard conversations and sustain hope?
- Matesan. 2025. “Toward a Pedagogy of Hope for the Political Science Classroom.” Journal of Political Science Education, online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2025.2529857
- Matesan. 2025. “Empowering Students to Have Difficult Conversations.” PS: Political Science & Politics, 58(4): 711–716. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096525000265
Other work on resistance
- Hechter, Matesan, and Hale. 2009. “Resistance to Alien Rule in Taiwan and Korea.” Nations and Nationalism, 15(1): 36–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2009.00378.x
Opinion and Commentary
- “Pragmatic Hope Needs Radical Hope” – Wesleyan Argus
- ” After ceasefire, negotiating a lasting deal with Iran would require overcoming regional rivalries and strategic incoherence” – The Conversation
- “The Effects of Proscription on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt,” Canopy Forum (Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University), March 25, 2023.
- “Muslim Brotherhood at the crossroads: Where now for Egypt’s once-powerful following leader’s death in exile, repression at home?” The Conversation, December 16, 2022.
- “Why do rebel groups apologize?” (with Ronit Berger) The Conversation, July 3, 2019. (Reprinted in 17 American news outlets, The Conversation UK, and translated into French by YesMag).
- “The Meaning of Violence and Nonviolence after Charlottesville.” Political Violence @ a Glance, August 23, 2017.
- “Why ISIS Will Not Thrive in Indonesia.” Political Violence @ a Glance, January 29, 2016.
- “Responding to ISIS Attacks: Revenge Might Be Sweet, but Is It Effective?” Inside Sources, November 18, 2015. (Reprinted in The Last Vegas Sun, The Times and Democrat, The Courier Post).
Invited Publications
- “Democracy, Inclusion and Political Moderation: Lessons from Religious Movements in the Middle East and Indonesia.” (with Alexander R. Arifianto) Middle East-Asia Project, Middle East Institute, January 9, 2018.
- “El Arish and the Sinai Peninsula Underworld, Egypt.” (with John Gay) National Strategy Forum Review 2011, 20(3).