Amy Austin Holmes

Dr. Amy Austin Holmes is a Research Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University and a Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Belfer Center. She previously held a tenured Associate Professor position at the American University in Cairo and served as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center and Brown University’s Watson Institute. Her research focuses on Middle Eastern conflicts, military relations, and ethnic minorities, with emphasis on Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq. Holmes earned her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and has authored three books, including Coups and Revolutions: Mass Mobilization, the Egyptian Military, and the United States from Mubarak to Sisi (Oxford, 2019) and Statelet of Survivors: The Making of a Semi-Autonomous Region in Northeast Syria (forthcoming 2024). She leads a major dataset project on the Turkish-Kurdish conflict and advises U.S. policymakers. Holmes has been awarded the Minerva-Decur grant (2024) and a Fulbright Scholarship. Her work bridges academia and policy, addressing issues like counterterrorism, minority rights, and U.S. foreign policy in volatile regions.

Education:

• Ph.D. in International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Research Interests: Holmes examines territorial expansion by authoritarian regimes (Turkey, Russia, China), the political evolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the socio-political impact of military coups. She combines fieldwork with quantitative analysis to study minority inclusion in conflict zones. Recent projects include analyzing Arab-Arab alliances in Northeast Syria and the role of diaspora communities in shaping regional conflicts.

Grants & Awards:

• Minerva-Decur Research Grant (2024)
• Fulbright Scholar (prior award)

Policy Engagement: Holmes advised the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations and served on the Turkey Desk. She provided expert briefings to Congress and the House of Lords on Syria, Egypt, and Kurdish issues. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2023), she lectured on global disinformation at the Kyiv School of Economics.

Labs/Teams: Affiliated with the Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative and collaborates with the Woodrow Wilson Center. Her fieldwork teams conduct surveys in conflict zones like Northeast Syria and Turkey-Syria border regions.