Ellen Lust is Professor in the Department of Political Science and Founding Director of the Program on Governance and Local Development at Yale University, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy.  She received her M.A. in Modern Middle East and North African Studies and PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and has conducted fieldwork and implemented surveys in Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia. She was a founding associate editor of Middle East Law and Governance and currently chairs its board of directors. Her books include  Structuring Conflict in the Arab World;  Political Participation in the Middle East, co-edited with Saloua Zerhouni; Governing Africa’s Changing Societies, co-edited with Stephen Ndegwa; the 12th and 13th editions of  The Middle East; and Taking to the Streets: The Transformation of Arab Activism, co-edited with Lina Khatib.  She has also published articles in Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Political Studies,  International Journal of Middle East Studies,  Politics and Society, and Comparative Politics and other journals.