Her research focuses on contentious politics and politics of the Middle East, with a particular interest in political violence, democratization and Islamist movements. Matesan has conducted NSF-supported fieldwork in Egypt and in Indonesia, which explores why groups adopt or abandon violent tactics, and how tactical and ideological change happens within Islamist movements. She has also researched and published on why armed non-state actors apologize for their mistakes, Hamas and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, new security challenges in the Middle East and North Africa, and the dynamics of resistance to foreign rule.