Richard Nielsen

Richard Nielsen is an associate professor of political science at MIT. He completed his PhD in government and an AM in statistics at Harvard University, and holds a BA from Brigham Young University. His first book, Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Paths to Jihad (Cambridge University Press, 2017), uses statistical text analysis and fieldwork in Cairo mosques to understand the radicalization of jihadi clerics in the Arab world. His most recent research shows how the Egyptian government responds to security threats and regime challengers by increasing the supply of conspiracy theories in state-owned media.  Nielsen has also written on international law, the political economy of human rights, political violence, and political methodology. Some of this work is published or forthcoming in The American Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, Political Analysis, and Sociological Methods and Research. His research has been supported by an Andrew Carnegie fellowship, the National Science Foundation, the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.