Her present research focuses on British rule in Egypt and the powers of modern law constitutive of colonization. Her forthcoming book manuscript is titled Losing the Human: The Rise of Juridical Humanity in Colonial Egypt. Esmeir’s research interests also span issues around violence, war and the security state in the contemporary Middle East, and legal history, including the history of the colonial legal profession in Egypt, the colonial history of comparative law and the international legal histories of revolution.