He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and his B.A. from Virginia Tech. Professor Makara's research focuses on politics in authoritarian regimes and civil-military relations, with a regional focus on the Middle East. He is currently working on two projects. The first studies the relationship between political instability and legislative development in Jordan. In doing so, it explores the role that seemingly democrative political institutions play in non-democratic contexts. The second explains why militaries across the Middle East reacted so differently to the Arab Spring protests, focusing specifically on Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. Professor Makara lived in Jordan for two years as a research fellow with both Fulbright and the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR).