Motasem completed his MA in Sociology at Marmara University and is currently enrolled in the Master's in Arab Studies (MAAS) program at Georgetown. He is primarily concerned with coercive formations in authoritarian regimes and how they intersect with sub-national and patrimonial affiliations. His MA thesis explored the politicization of the sect and tribe in post-colonial Syria and Iraq as inter-institutional compact actors. At Georgetown's MAAS program, he intends to further explore how variance in regimes can be determined through the interaction of these actors with social power forces and institutions -- the coercive apparatus in particular.
