Jeremy Pressman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of Middle East Studies University of Connecticut

  • Storrs CT

Dr. Pressman specializes in the Arab-Israeli peace process, US foreign policy, and the scope of political protests in the United States.

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Spotlight

2 min

Experts in the media: University of Connecticut experts weigh in on the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani

The killing of Iranian military leader Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani by an American ordered drone strike has put the world is on edge. As leaders call for calm, hundreds of thousands are protesting across the Middle East and war seems almost inevitable. As news broke of the attack late last week, media were scrambling to find experts to lend their perspective, opinions and expertise about what’s next. That’s where the University of Connecticut’s Director of Middle East Studies Jeremy Pressman was able to help. Pressman said it’s “too early to say” what kind of repercussions the killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani will have in Iran, Iraq or in other countries like Saudi Arabia or Lebanon, in part because it’s not known yet how much planning went into the decision. “The Trump administration is an administration that, on foreign policy, has not demonstrated that it usually plans much in advance,” he said. “You want to have thought what ways Iran could respond, and how you are going to defend yourselves in those situations and respond to those situations.” January 03 – Middletown Press If you are a reporter covering this ongoing and progressing situation – the let our experts help with any of your questions or stories moving forward. Jeremy Pressman (MIT, PhD) studies international relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Middle East politics, and U.S. foreign policy. He is the Director of Middle East Studies at the University of Connecticut and is available to speak with media, simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.

Jeremy Pressman, Ph.D.

Biography

Jeremy Pressman (MIT, PhD) studies international relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Middle East politics, and U.S. foreign policy. He is writing a book on force and diplomacy in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Pressman has held fellowships at Harvard University, the University of Sydney, and the Humanities Institute at the University of Connecticut. Pressman previously worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and is a former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Areas of Expertise

Political Protests
Middle East Peace Process
Arab-Israeli Conflict

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ph.D.

Political Science

2002

Brandeis University

B.A.

Politics and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

1991

Accomplishments

Alan Bennett Award

Awarded by the Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut.

Social

Media Appearances

How resistance to Trump may look different in his second administration

The Washington Post  print

2025-01-17

Jeremy Pressman, a political science professor of the University of Connecticut, said there is a split among activists over how best to speak up about Trump’s presidency.

Some believe marches haven’t accomplished enough and want to work on new tactics, like investing more in grassroots political organizations. Others believe large-scale demonstrations are still effective because they bring together veteran organizers and newcomers to a movement.

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Column: What Trump's crowd obsession says about him — and the race for the White House

Los Angeles Times  print

2024-08-14

“Crowd size can tell us something about enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is important for things like donations and volunteers,” said Jeremy Pressman, a University of Connecticut political science professor and co-director of the Crowd Counting Consortium, a joint project of the university and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

“But it’s important to remember what it doesn’t tell us,” he went on. “It doesn’t tell us who’s ahead. It doesn’t tell us who’s winning. It doesn’t necessarily predict who’s going to win at the end of the day.”

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Israel/Palestine & the Myths and Realities of the 2000 Camp David Summit

Parallax Views Podcast  online

2024-05-20

On this edition of Parallax Views, the University of Connecticut's Prof. Jeremy Pressman, Director of Middle East Studies at UConn and author of The Sword is Not Enough: Arabs, Israelis, and the Limits of Military Force, joins the show to discuss the myths of the 2000 Camp David Summit and Taba talks. During recent appearances in media programs such as Morning Joe w/ Joe Scarborough, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton brought up the old trope that "the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" that is often invoked when discussing PLO leader Yasser Arafat and the 2000 Camp David Summit. This is used to say that Arafat failed the Palestinian people and "rejected an offer". It's also a talking point used to justify use of military force rather than pursuing a political solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. It forecloses on the possibility of a diplomatic solution or peace being achieved by saying the Palestinians are "not ready" for peace.

Prof. Jeremy Pressman wrote a researched, footnoted piece entitled "Visions in Collision: What Happened at Camp David and Taba?" that pushes back on this oversimplified narrative of the Clinton-era diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Palestinians.

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Articles

Throwing Stones in Social Science: Nonviolence, Unarmed Violence, and the First Intifada

Cooperation & Conflict

2017

Social scientists treat stone-throwing as a non-violent act or argue that protest movements may be primarily non-violent despite stone-throwing. However, this study of an iconic example, the first intifada (Palestinian uprising, 1987–1993), demonstrates that stone-throwing is better characterized as unarmed violence. Definitions of violence underscore that throwing rocks is a violent act. Moreover, informed observers and data collected on stone-induced injuries during four years of the intifada illustrate the bodily harm caused by stones. The throwing of stones was central to the intifada and its identity and definition. Stone-throwing was the most visible tactic Palestinians used in the first intifada. Lastly, most scholars emphasize the protestors’ perceptions when it might be that the targets’ perceptions matter more for understanding definitions of (non-)violence and subsequent policy changes. These findings challenge important social science work and the mainstream Israeli and Palestinian narratives about the first intifada.

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American Engagement and the Pathways to Arab–Israeli Peace

Cooperation and Conflict

2014

This close empirical study of decades of US efforts to bring peace between Arab states and Israel helps reflect on Arild Underdal and Oran R. Young’s leadership typologies. Distinguishing between coercive leadership based on the incentives and sanctions that robust capabilities make possible and instrumental leadership focused more on talking, skilled mediation, and policy innovation is useful...

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Explaining the Carter Administration’s Israeli–Palestinian Solution*

Diplomatic History

2013

This article challenges critics of the Camp David accords who acknowledge only limited accomplishments or contend the United States was covering for Israeli settlement expansion while seeking to thwart Palestinian self-determination. President Jimmy Carter and his administration sought to create a new pathway toward peace given the unwillingness of Israel’s right-wing government under ...

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