Salam Alsaadi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto and an incoming postdoctoral fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. His research focuses on authoritarianism and contentious politics in divided societies. His current book project examines the survival and governance strategies of minority-dominated regimes. Prior to his PhD studies, Salam worked as a journalist in Syria and Lebanon, writing for Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Almodon, and Al-Arab newspapers.