Paul is Associate Professor of Government at Georgetown University in Qatar. His research interests lie in the intersection of U.S. foreign policy and international relations theory. His work also examines the relationship of global energy markets to domestic and international politics. Prior to that, he was Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He obtained his Ph.D. from Georgetown. His dissertation was on the domestic politics of U.S. foreign policy.

Paul is a 2005 Mitchell Scholar. He received a Master's Degree in Politics from University College Dublin. Paul's thesis examined the historic and contemporary role of the Irish language in Irish Nationalism. He interned at the Economic and Social Research Institute and was a guest on several local radio and national TV programs discussing international relations and the US political system. Studying in Ireland with a diverse population of students from around Europe and the world gave Paul great insight into the international relations objectives and priorities of other countries as well as a deeper understanding of how US foreign policy is perceived. Paul obtained his undergraduate degree from Indiana University.