Russell Lucas 
Associate Professor | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Expert in U.S.-Middle East relations and politics of the Arab world
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Biography
Russell Lucas is an Associate Professor of International Relations and Global Studies at Michigan State University. Dr. Lucas teaches classes on the politics and culture of the Middle East, as well as theories of global studies. His research specializes on Middle Eastern politics and culture with attention to foreign policy, public opinion, political institutions, and the media. His book, Institutions and the Politics of Survival in Jordan: Domestic Responses to External Challenges, 1988-2001 was published by SUNY Press. He has also published articles in a range of journals, including Journal of Democracy, International Studies Quarterly, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Journal of Arabian Studies, International Interactions, Journal of Middle East Culture and Communication, and the Middle East Journal. His current research focuses on conceptions of public opinion in the Arab World and on the politics of Arab monarchies. He has previously served as the Director of the Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities program in the College of Arts and Letters. He has previously taught at Florida International University and at the University of Oklahoma.
Industry Expertise (6)
Research
Writing and Editing
Education/Learning
International Affairs
Program Development
Public Policy
Areas of Expertise (7)
Democratization
Saudi Arabia
Public Opinion
Middle East Politics
Foreign Policy
Jordan
Syria
Education (3)
Georgetown University: Ph.D., Comparative Government 2000
University of Michigan - Rackham Graduate School: M.A., Modern Middle East and North African Studies 1994
University of Michigan: B.A., Political Science and Government 1992
Affiliations (1)
- An expert on Middle East politics
Links (2)
News (3)
Arms And Influence In The Khashoggi Affair
The Conversation online
2018-10-16
President Donald Trump’s reaction to the disappearance and death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul reveals important details about the declining influence of U.S. in the Middle East.
MSU Experts Can Discuss Election Issues
MSU Today online
2016-11-07
Russell Lucas, director of MSU’s Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities and associate professor of Arab studies, is an expert on U.S.-Middle East relations and Arabic culture. He can comment on the differences between candidates in regards to the United States’ involvement in Middle Eastern affairs as well as on how those positions are viewed by different groups in the Middle East...
Faculty Conversations: Russell Lucas
MSU Today
2013-09-11
As much as he enjoyed his experiences abroad, there really is no place like home for Russell Lucas. “It’s great to be back in Michigan and working at MSU,” said Lucas, director of the Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities Program. “I really am appreciative of being able to do that.” Lucas, a Michigan native, has been working at MSU for two years. He spent the previous 20 years in places such as Washington D.C., Jerusalem and Kuwait, and he draws from those experiences to teach classes...
Journal Articles (5)
Monarchical authoritarianism: survival and political liberalization in a middle eastern regime type
International Journal of Middle East Studies2014
Arab Muslim attitudes toward the West: Cultural, social, and political explanations
International Interactions2008 We utilize pooled data from Zogby International's 2002 Zogby, James. 2002. What Arabs Think: Values Beliefs and Concerns, Utica NY: Zogby International. Arab Values Survey (carried out in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and UAE) in order to test for “cultural,” “social” and/or international “political” influences on Arab Muslim attitudes toward “Western” countries (Canada, France, Germany, UK, and USA). We find little support for “cultural” hypotheses to the effect that hostility to the West is a mark-up on Muslim and/or Arab identity. We find only limited support for “social” hypotheses that suggest that hostility to the West is predicted by socioeconomic deprivation, youth, and/or being male. We find the strongest support for a lone “political” hypothesis: hostility toward specific Western countries is predicted by those countries' recent and visible international political actions in regard to salient international issues (e.g., Western foreign policies toward Palestine).
Determinants of Arab public opinion on foreign relations
International Studies Quarterly2006 Using Zogby International polling data from seven different Arab nations (Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) this paper offers a societal-level quantitative analysis (N=91 dyads) of the determinants of Arab public opinion toward 13 different non-Arab countries (Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States)...
Jordan: the death of normalization with Israel
The Middle East Journal2004 Many would count Jordanian-Israeli normalization among the victims of the new intifada. Three factors, however, had brought about the death of normalization in Jordan well before October 2000: Israeli intransigence, a regime crackdown on the opposition, and the failure of economic benefits to buy popular support. King Abdullah has inherited a situation where he has turned towards the US rather than Israel as his major foreign policy partner.
Deliberalization in Jordan
Journal of Democracy2003 In 1989, with the first Palestinian intifada (uprising) raging just across the Jordan River in the West Bank, domestic discontent spilling into his own streets, and his country's finances in tatters, Jordan's King Hussein (r. 1953-99) began taking a series of extraordinary steps toward political opening. He ended repression, called new elections to replace the National Assembly that he had dissolved in 1988, and forged a national pact that put Jordan at the forefront of liberalization in the Arab world. As the late king's son and designated successor Abdallah II faces a similar situation more than a decade later, however, the regime is nearing the completion of a full circle back to martial law...
