Professor Lynch received his B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University. He teaches courses on Middle Eastern politics and international relations. He is the director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, a contributing editor for The Washington Post's Monkey Cage political science page, editor of the Columbia University Press series Columbia Studies on Middle East Politics, and a nonresident senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Lynch is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) at George Washington University. A scholar of Middle East politics, Arab media and public opinion, Islamist movements, and public diplomacy, he is a frequent contributor to Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Good Authority, and other public forums, and is known for coining the term “Arab Spring.”

In residence in Columbus through Spring 2025