Positions

Research Areas research areas

Overview

  • Jeannie L. Sowers is Professor and Chair of the Political Science and International Affairs Department at the University of New Hampshire. Her research explores political and environmental change in the Middle East and North Africa, with a recent focus on protracted conflicts and environmental infrastructures.

    Her books include Environmental Politics in Egypt: Experts, Activists, and the State (Routledge, 2013), Modern Egypt: What Everyone Needs to Know with Bruce Rutherford (Oxford University Press, 2019), The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest, and Social Change in Egypt (Verso, 2012), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Environmental Politics (2023), and a number of articles and book chapters. She is currently a non-resident fellow at the Foreign Policy Program, Brookings Institution, and in 2021-22 held a Faculty Leave Fellowship at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University.

    At UNH, Prof. Sowers teaches courses in environmental politics, Middle East politics, comparative politics, and international relations for the Department of Political Science and International Affairs. She is a member of the graduate faculty for the Natural Resources and Earth Systems Science Ph.D. program.

    Prof Sowers serves on the editorial board of Global Environmental Politics, is a member of Environmental Studies Executive Committee for the International Studies Association (ISA), and and a former editorial board member for Middle East Report. She holds a BA from Harvard University and PhD. from Princeton University. She has held postdoctoral fellowships and visiting appointments at Brandeis University, Harvard University and Oxford University. Her research has been funded by Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, and the American Council of Overseas Research Centers, among others.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title
    2022 What is climate security? Framing risks around water, food, and migration in the Middle East and North Africa.  WIREs Water.  9. 2022
    2021 Health and Environmental Tolls of Protracted Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.  Current History.  120:339-345. 2021
    2021 Humanitarian challenges and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in the Yemen war.  International Affairs: promoting dialogue between academics and policy-makers.  97:157-177. 2021
    2020 The water-energy nexus in the Middle East: Infrastructure, development, and conflict.  WIREs Water.  7. 2020
    2019 Understanding Climate Vulnerability in the Middle East and North Africa.  International Journal of Middle East Studies.  51:621-625. 2019
    2019 Targeting infrastructure and livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza.  International Affairs.  95:319-340. 2019
    2017 The High Stakes of Climate Adaptation in the Middle East.  Current History.  348-354. 2017
    2017 Targeting environmental infrastructures, international law, and civilians in the new Middle Eastern wars.  Security Dialogue.  48:410-430. 2017
    2015 Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria.  International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics.  15:293-307. 2015
    2015 Activism and Political Economy in the New-Old Egypt.  International Journal of Middle East Studies.  47:140-143. 2015
    2014 The Campaign Against Coal in Egypt.  Middle East Report.  271:29-35. 2014
    2014 Water, Energy, and Human Insecurity in the Middle East and North Africa.  Middle East Report.  271. 2014
    2011 Climate change, water resources, and the politics of adaptation in the Middle East and North Africa.  Climatic Change: an interdisciplinary, international journal devoted to the description, causes and implications of climatic change.  104:599-627. 2011
    2011 The politics of assessment: water and sanitation MDGs in the Middle East..  Development and Change.  42:1153-1178. 2011
    2009 Damietta Mobilizes for Its Environment.  Middle East Report.  2009
    2007 Nature Reserves and Authoritarian Rule in Egypt.  Journal of Environment and Development: a review of international policy.  16:375-397. 2007

    Article

    Year Title
    2022 The Environmental and Health Impacts of the Ukraine War 2022

    Book

    Year Title
    2023 The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Environmental Politics 2023
    2018 Modern Egypt What Everyone Needs to Know 2018
    2013 Environmental Politics in Egypt 2013
    2012 The Journey to Tahrir Revolution, Protest, and Social Change in Egypt 2012

    Chapter

    Year Title
    2018 Revolution and Counterrevolution in Egypt.  40-71. 2018
    2018 Environmental Activism in the Middle East and North Africa 2018
    2018 The Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Arid Regions: The Politics of Problemsheds.  167-196. 2018
    2013 Resources and Revenues: The Political Economy of Climate Initiatives in Egypt.  199-216. 2013
    2012 Institutional Change in Authoritarian Regimes: Water and the State in Egypt.  231-254. 2012
    2011 Authoritarian Rule and Democratic Demands in the Middle East.  335-361. 2011
    2011 Re-mapping the Nation, Critiquing the State: Environmental Narratives and Desert Land Reclamation in Egypt.  158-191. 2011
    1999 Just Green Marketing? State, Business, and Environment in Egypt.  160-171. 1999
    1999 States and Sovereignty: An Introduction.  15-21. 1999
    War and Environment: A Comparative Perspective.  775-796.

    Teaching Activities

  • Comp Politics of Middle East Taught course 2023
  • Independent Study Taught course 2023
  • States and Societies Mid East Taught course 2022
  • Independent Study Taught course 2021
  • Comp Environmental Politics Taught course 2021
  • Global Issues Intrntnl Affairs Taught course 2020
  • States and Societies Mid East Taught course 2020
  • Comp Environmental Politics Taught course 2020
  • Comp Politics of Middle East Taught course 2020
  • Independent Study in IA Taught course 2019
  • Comp Politics of Middle East Taught course 2018
  • Politics &Policy Warming World Taught course 2018
  • States and Societies Mid East Taught course 2018
  • Seminar Taught course 2016
  • States and Societies Mid East Taught course 2016
  • Comp Politics of Middle East Taught course 2016
  • Pro-Seminar Taught course 2016
  • Comp Environmental Politics Taught course 2015
  • States and Societies Mid East Taught course 2014
  • Comp Politics of Middle East Taught course 2014
  • Comparative Government&Society Taught course 2014
  • Rsrch Exp/Political Science Taught course 2014

    • Education And Training

  • B.A., Harvard University
  • M.A. Political Science & Government, Princeton University
  • Ph.D. Political Science, Princeton University

    • Full Name

  • Jeannie Sowers

    • Mailing Address

  • University of New Hampshire

    Department of Political Science and International Affairs

    Horton Social Science Center, Rm. 321, 20 Academic Way

    Durham, NH  03824

    United States