Samer Soliman is associate professor of Political Economy. He earned his B.Sc. in Economics in 1990 from Cairo University, a graduate diploma in African studies from the same university in 1992, a Master of Art in sociology from AUC in 1997 and finally a PhD in Political Science from the Institute of Political studies in Paris in 2004.

Dr. Soliman is specialized in the political economy and the politics of Egypt. His main interest is the Egyptian state, its resources, its public policies, its role (or absence of role) in economic development, and its relationship to society. In addition, he has a rising interest in the democratic transition of Egypt, with its different aspects like the "social infrastructure of political change", the role of opposition, the state of the parliament and parliamentary elections, the sectarian question, etc.

Before joining AUC Dr. Soliman worked as affiliated researcher in CEDEJ (Centre d'etudes et de documentations economiques, juridiques et sociales). He also worked as a journalist in Al-Ahram Hebdo newspaper.

The main publication of Dr. Soliman is his book "Strong regime, weak state: The fiscal crisis and political change in Egypt under Mubarak" (in Arabic). The book is based on his PhD dissertation and has two editions. In addition, Dr. Soliman published a book in the series of "Cairo Papers in social science" under the title "State and industrial capitalism in Egypt" (in English). He is now (2006) in the process of publishing a study on the 2005 parliamentary elections in Egypt. Moreover, he has produced many articles on different issues like Islamic banking, taxation policies, the sectarian question in Egypt and the political economy of democratization.

Research Interests:

• Political economy
• State and development
• Capitalism and politics
• Social roots of democracy and authoritarianism
• Egyptian political parties
• Sectarian conflicts
• Corporatist state
• Islamic banking
• Social democracy
• Leftist movement in Egypt