Megan A. Stewart

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Megan A. Stewart is an Associate Professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Broadly, her research investigates why and how political actors attempt to transform social orders and seeks to explain variation therein. To date, Dr. Stewart has primarily focused on rebel groups attempting social transformation during civil war and has published several works on the topic, including her book, Governing for Revolution, which Cambridge University Press published in early 2021. Governing for Revolution explains why some rebel groups undertake costly governance projects to engineer and transform societies during war while other rebel groups do not. The book incorporates both quantitative and qualitative methods, including the creation and analysis of an original dataset, elite interviews held in Lebanon, and archival research conducted in East Timor, Australia, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In 2018, Dr. Stewart published a paper on this topic, “Civil War as State-Building: Strategic Governance During Civil War,” in International Organization. The research upon which this work was based received awards from the Peace Studies Society (International) in 2018 and the APSA Conflict Processes Section in 2016. Her related research has also been published in the Journal of Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Research and Politics, and Conflict Management and Peace Science, and insights from her work have been featured in the Washington Post, Political Violence at a Glance, and the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS). From 2020-2021, she was a Fellow at Dartmouth College’s John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding. From 2016-2017, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lab Manager at the University of Virginia’s Politics Experimental Lab.

Dr. Stewart has recently started a second major research project that aims to explain variation in the success and failure of revolutionary projects to transform social orders. She is currently working on a second book on the topic. Dr. Stewart’s collaborative work related to the subject has been published in Comparative Political Studies and was featured in the London School of Economics U.S. Public Policy Blog.

Website:
www.meganastewart.org

Issues of Expertise:
Civil war, insurgency, revolution, state building, state formation, social engineering

Select Recent Publications:

Stewart, Megan A. Governing for Revolution. Cambridge University Press. 2021.
Stewart, Megan A. 2021 and Karin E. Kitchens. “Social Transformation and Violence: Evidence from U.S. Reconstruction.” Comparative Political Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414021997164
Mampilly, Zachariah and Megan A. Stewart. 2020. “A Typology of Rebel Political Institutional Arrangements.” Journal of Conflict Resolution. DOI: 0022002720935642
Nedal, Dani, Megan A. Stewart and Michael Weintraub. 2020. “Urban concentration and civil war.” Journal of Conflict Resolution. 64 (6), 1146-1171
Stewart, Megan A. 2020. “Rebel governance: military boon or military bust?” Conflict Management and Peace Science 37 (1): 16-38
Stewart Megan A. 2018. “Civil War as State-Making: Strategic Governance in Civil War” International Organization. 72(1): 205-226.
Stewart, Megan A. and Yu-Ming Liou. 2017. “Do good borders make good rebels? Territorial control and civilian casualties.” The Journal of Politics 79 (1): 284-301.

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Photo by Mehmet Akif Parlak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

What's at stake if Turkey invades Syria, again

Should the Turkish government make good on its threats to launch yet another military incursion into northern Syria, it would lead to a sharp escalation in violence in a country afflicted by a more-than-decade-long brutal conflict. Not only would Turkey’s military incursion have significant immediate effects on civilians and combatants in Syria, but it could also reverberate further throughout the region and world.

Photo by Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

What can the Syrian civil war tell us about the war in Ukraine?

The conflict in Syria may reveal what is likely to unfold as the war in Ukraine continues. The nature of the conflict, the presence of foreign fighters, and the refugee crisis that came to characterize the Syrian civil war may portend what is to come in Ukraine.

America’s reputation and local actors in a trust vacuum

The rapid collapse of the U.S.-supported Afghan government after the withdrawal of U.S. troops raised a number of questions about America’s credibility and reputation in the eyes of its allies, especially those who had participated in and contributed to the 20-year war. Analysts and commentators have focused on how NATO member states or the European Union now perceive the U.S., but it is also important to consider the perspective of non-state groups or individuals who served or could serve as local partners for the U.S. government and military.

Photo by MARCUS YAM/LOS ANGELES TIMES/Getty Images

What’s next in Afghanistan? The prospects for future political violence

As the U.S. withdrew troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban pushed through large portions of the country, capturing strategic regional centers and ultimately securing the capital city of Kabul. In its pursuit, the Taliban faced relatively little resistance as it seized government strongholds. Rather than widespread fighting, reports indicate that Taliban fighters often cut deals with soldiers, offering payoffs or demanding surrenders. At the same time and as of the time of writing, the Taliban announced a general amnesty, encouraging former government officials and women to support the group.
Whether and how long this period of limited resistance and amnesty might last are unclear. What are the prospects for future political violence both within and outside the country?