Jeannie Sowers
Jeannie L. Sowers is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director for the International Affairs Program at the University of New Hampshire. A scholar of comparative politics of the Middle East, her publications focus on political economy, ecology, and state-society relations in the Middle East and North Africa.
Her most recent book is Modern Egypt: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2018), co-authored with Bruce Rutherford. Her book Environmental Politics in Egypt: Experts, Activists, and the State (Routledge, 2013) was awarded Runner-Up for the 2013 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for the best book in international environmental politics by the International Studies Association. She also co-edited with Chris ToensingThe Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest, and Social Change in Egypt (Verso, 2012). She has published articles in International Affairs, Security Dialogue, Climatic Change, Development and Change, International Environmental Agreements, the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle East Report, Current History, and the Journal of Environment and Development.
Prof. Sowers holds a BA from Harvard University and an MA and Ph.D. from Princeton University, and has held postdoctoral and visiting appointments at Harvard University and Oxford University. Her research has been funded by grants from Princeton University, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the University of New Hampshire, and the Gerda Henkel Foundation. She serves on editorial board of Global Environmental Politics and is a contributor and former editorial board member for Middle East Report.
Research Interests
- Conflict and human security
- Egypt
- Environmental Planning/Policy
- Environmental policy
- Environmental politics and social change
- Middle East
- Social movements
Courses Taught
- IA 701: Seminar
- POLT 444: Politics &Policy Warming World
- POLT 559: Comp Politics of Middle East
- POLT 740: States and Societies Mid East
- POLT 751: Comp Environmental Politics
- POLT 900: Pro-Seminar
Selected Publications
Weinthal, E., & Sowers, J. (2019). Targeting infrastructure and livelihoods in the West Bank and Gaza. International Affairs, 95(2), 319-340. doi:10.1093/ia/iiz015
Sowers, J. (2018). Environmental Activism in the Middle East and North Africa. In H. Voerhoeven (Ed.), Environmental Politics in the Middle East. Oxford University Press.
Sowers, J., & Rutherford, B. (2018). Modern Egypt What Everyone Needs to Know. What Everyone Needs to Know, Oxford University Press.
Sowers, J. (2018). The Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Arid Regions: The Politics of Problemsheds. In E. Weinthal, & K. Conca (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Water Politics and Policy (pp. 167-196). Oxford University Press.
Sowers, J. (2017). The High Stakes of Climate Adaptation in the Middle East. Current History, 348-354.
Sowers, J. L., Weinthal, E., & Zawahri, N. (2017). Targeting environmental infrastructures, international law, and civilians in the new Middle Eastern wars. Security Dialogue, 48(5), 410-430. doi:10.1177/0967010617716615
Sowers, J., & Rutherford, B. (2017). Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Egypt. In M. Haas, & D. Lesch (Eds.), The Arab Spring: The Hope and Reality of the Uprisings (2nd edition ed., pp. 40-71). Westview/Routledge Press.
Weinthal, E., Zawahri, N., & Sowers, J. (2015). Securitizing Water, Climate, and Migration in Israel, Jordan, and Syria. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 15(3), 293-307. doi:10.1007/s10784-015-9279-4
Zawahri, N., Sowers, J., & Weinthal, E. (2011). The Politics of Assessment: Water and Sanitation MDGs in the Middle East. Development and Change, 42(5), 1153-1178. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7660.2011.01730.x
Sowers, J., Vengosh, A., & Weinthal, E. (2011). Climate change, water resources, and the politics of adaptation in the Middle East and North Africa. Climatic Change, 104(3-4), 599-627. doi:10.1007/s10584-010-9835-4
Most Cited Publications