Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

Mohammad Affan

Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum

Mohammad Affan is the Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum. A medical doctor by training, Affan obtained his MA degree in Political Science from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University of Cairo (2015). He also holds three post-graduate diplomas: One in “Civil Society and Human Rights”, from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University (2010), another one in Political Research and Studies from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies at the Arab League (2012), and the third diploma in Islamic Studies from the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo (2012). Among his publications is his book titled: “Wahhabism and the Brotherhood: the conflict on the concept of the state and the legitimacy of power.” Affan is currently pursuing his PhD in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Exeter Univesity in the UK. His research interests include, Islamism, State-Theory, and Comparative MENA Studies.

Tarik Yousef

Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution

Carole Nakhle

CEO of Crystol Energy

Tarik Yousef

Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution

Carole Nakhle

CEO of Crystol Energy

Mohanad Hage Ali

Academician and political journalist and journalism trainer

Mohanad Hage Ali is an academic and a political journalist. He has a PhD in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). As an academic and journalist, Mohanad specializes in the study of Islamic Movements. He has published a book on Hizbullah’s identity project, while his publications include a much-quoted article on the Abu Musab al-Suri and the new al-Qaeda. Mohanad has written extensively on militant groups in the Syrian conflict.

Khaldoun Charif

Political commentator

Obeida Tekriti

Activist, candidate on MMFD lists

Joseph Bahout

Director at Issam Fares Institute AUB, Beirut

Mitat Celikpala

Professor at Kadir Has University

Dr. Mitat Çelikpala is Professor of International Relations and the Dean of Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Kadir Has University, Istanbul. He has also been the board member of the International Relations Council of Turkey since 2004 and the Managing Editor of the Journal of International Relations: Academic Journal. He previously served as an academic advisor to NATO’s Center of Excellence Defense against Terrorism in Ankara (2009-2012) and was Academic Adviser to the Center for Strategic Research (SAM), Turkish Foreign Ministry (2002-2010), and Caspian Strategy Institute, Istanbul Turkey (2012–2013).

Abdolrasool Divsallar

Regional Security Initiative, European University

Rawan Hammoud

Senior research fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Sinan Hatahet

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Sinan Hatahet is currently a consultant working with a number of think tanks on Syria. His research is concentrated on governance and local councils, anti-radicalization, Islamism, the Kurdish National Movement, and the new regional order in the Middle East. He previously worked as the executive director of the Syrian National Coalition (SC) media office from its creation in late 2012 until September 2014.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

Rice University\'s Baker Institute for Public Policy & Associate Fellow, Chatham House.

Betul Dogan Akkas

Al Sharq Strategic Associate fellow

Simon Mabon

Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Lancaster University

Dr. Simon Mabon is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Lancaster University where he directs the Richardson Institute. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Leeds and is the director of the SEPAD Project, funded by Carnegie Corporation which looks at the impact of the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the contemporary Middle East.

Khalid Al Mezaini

Associate Professor at Zayed University

Khalid Al Mezaini is an Assistant Professor, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. He was working before at Qatar University, where he teaches in the Gulf Studies Program, and a visiting research fellow at LSE. Prior to joining Qatar University, he was a research fellow at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Abdulla Baabood

Chair of the State of Qatar in Islamic Area Studies, Waseda University, Japan

Abdullah Baabood is an academic from Oman with wide regional and international experience. He was previously the director of the Gulf Studies Program at the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University and director of the Gulf Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. Currently, he is the Chair of the State of Qatar for Islamic Area Studies and Visiting Professor, Faculty of International Research and Education, Waseda University, Japan.

Betul Dogan Akkas

Al Sharq Strategic Associate fellow

Meliha Altunisik

Professor at the Department of International Relations at METU

Meliha Benli Altunışık is a professor at the Department of International Relations at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University in 1988-89 and was a resident Fulbright Scholar in the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC from January to June 2003. She is the author of Turkey: Challenges of Continuity and Change with Ö. Tür (Routledge/Curzon, 2005) and The South Caucasus: Security, Energy and Europeanization, co-edited with O. Tanrısever (Routledge, 2018). She also published a number of academic articles in journals such as Arab Studies Quarterly; Insight Turkey; Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies; Journal of Historical Sociology; Mediterranean Politics; Middle Eastern Studies; New Perspectives on Turkey; Security Dialogue; Uluslararası İlişkiler.

Anoush Ehteshami

Professor of International Relations at Durham University

Anoush Ehteshami is a Professor of International Relations at Durham University. He is the Nasser al-Sabah Chair and Director, and the Director of the Institute for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies at School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University.

Cinzia Bianco

Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations

Cinzia Bianco is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, based in Berlin, where she is working on political, security and economic developments in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region and relations with Europe. Additionally, she is a senior analyst at Gulf State Analytics. Previously, Bianco was a research fellow for the European Commission’s project on EU-GCC relations ‘Sharaka’ between 2013 and 2014. She holds an MA degree in Middle East and Mediterranean Studies from King’s College London and a PhD in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, where she worked on threat perceptions in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) after the 2011 Arab uprisings.

Madawi Al Rasheed

Visiting Professor at the LSE Middle East Center

Madawi is Visiting Professor at the LSE Middle East Centre. In January 2017, she returned to the MEC from a sabbatical year at the Middle East Institute, the National University of Singapore. Previously, she was Research Fellow at the Open Society Foundation. Between 1994–2013, she was Professor of Anthropology of Religion at King’s College London. She was also a Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. She has taught at Goldsmith College, University of London and the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford.

Harun Karčić

Harun Karčić is the editor and host of a foreign affairs show on Al Jazeera's Balkan channel. Over the past decade, he has authored numerous articles on Islam in post-communist Bosnia and Herzegovina and the role played by foreign powers in the region. He also regularly reports on Muslim minorities in Europe and rising right-wing nationalism.

Maja Savic-Bojanic

Maja Savic-Bojanic is an Assistant Professor and currently also the Head of the Department of Political Science & International Relations at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology. She also holds the position of an honorary associate professor at the University of Exeter (UK) where she teaches within the Applied Security Strategy Programme.

Ismail Cidic

Ismail Cidic: President of the Bosnian Advocacy Center. Ismail is an alumnus of Duke University and a Fellow at George Mason University whose research focuses on international relations and foreign policy.

Galip Dalay

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies. He previously worked as a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and as a political researcher at SETA Foundation in Ankara. He is a regular contributor to German Marshall Fund of the United States’ on Turkey policy brief series, and a columnist for Middle East Eye.

Kamaran Palani

Research Fellow at the Middle Eastern Research Institute (MERI)

Kamaran Mohammad Palani is a Research Fellow at the Middle Eastern Research Institute (MERI). He has an MA in Global Security from Keele University in the UK. He has worked for various local and international NGOs and research centers, including Al Mesalla, Peace and Freedom Organization in Kurdistan, PAX, and the at Salahaddin University-Erbil. His research interests include de facto statehood in the international system, post-war security issues, state-building and democratization in Iraq and the Kurdistan region.

Lahib Higel

Senior Iraq Analyst at Crisis Group

Ranj Alaaldin

Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institute, Doha

Maria Fantappie

Senior Analyst at International Crisis Group

Maria Fantappie is Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Iraq. Maria has conducted fieldwork in Iraq and Syria since 2009, and works with other members of the Middle East & North Africa team to research and produce reports on security, conflict, politics, governance, and social issues on Iraq, Syria and the Kurdish regions. She has engaged policymakers on her research at some of the highest levels of government in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

Hassan Ahmadian

Assistant Professor at the University of Tehran

Dr. Hassan Ahmadian is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Iran Project, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Dr. Ahmadian is an Assistant Professor of Middle East and North Africa studies at the University of Tehran, and is also a Middle East security and politics fellow at the Center for Strategic Research, Tehran. He received his PhD in Area Studies from the University of Tehran. His research and teaching work is mainly focused on Iran’s foreign policy and relations, political change, civil-military relations and Islamist movements in the Middle East. His research and analyses have appeared in peer-reviewed journals as well as prestigious Persian, English and Arabic outlets.

Zaid Al Hamdan

Politician Advisor

Luciano Zaccara

Research Assistant Professor in Gulf Politics, Qatar University

Marc Owen Jones

Assistant Professor at HAmad Bin Khalifa University

Betul Dogan Akkas

Al Sharq Strategic Associate fellow

Galip Dalay

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies. He previously worked as a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and as a political researcher at SETA Foundation in Ankara. He is a regular contributor to German Marshall Fund of the United States’ on Turkey policy brief series, and a columnist for Middle East Eye.

Kadir Temiz

Assistant professor of Political Science at Istanbul Medeniyet University

Kadir Temiz graduated from Beykent University, department of International Relations in 2006. He holds an MA from Istanbul Technical University, department of humanities and social sciences Political Science Studies with a thesis titled “Confucianism and Alternative Theory of Rights” in 2010. He has also got doctor of philosophy degree from Boğaziçi University, Atatürk Institute for the Modern Turkish History with a dissertation titled “The Rise of China and the Middle East: Chinese Foreign Policy Towards Iran, Israel and Turkey, 2001- 2011.” In 2017. Temiz has studied at Peking University Institute of International Studies and Foreign Language School in the years between 2007 and 2010. He also studied at Shanghai International Studies University, the department of International Relations and Middle East Studies Centre. He also worked at İstanbul Şehir University, department of international relations in the years between 2018 and 2020. Temiz is also affiliated with Boğaziçi University’s Asian Studies Centre. He still continues to study on History of Modern China, Chinese Foreign Policy and International Relations, Politics of East Asia and China’s relations with Middle Eastern countries. He teaches Politics of East Asia, China in World Politics, Chinese Foreign Policy and Current Issues in Chinese Foreign Policy courses at İstanbul Medeniyet University, department of International Relations.

James M. Dorsey

Senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute-NUS

James M Dorsey is a senior research fellow focused on the Middle East and North Africa who publishes widely in peer-reviewed journals as well as non-academic publications. A veteran award-winning foreign correspondent for four decades in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the United States writing for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Financial Times, James has met a multitude of the region’s leaders. As a journalist, James covered primarily ethnic and religious conflicts, including some of recent history’s most dramatic events such as the 1973 Middle East war; the Lebanese civil war; the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the US-backed insurgency that ultimately led to the withdrawal of Soviet troops; the Palestinian intifadas; the Iranian revolution; the US embassy hostage crisis and the Iran-Iraq war; the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the toppling of Saddam Hussein; the Israeli-Palestinian peace process; the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia; the armed struggles in the Western Sahara, Algeria, the Philippines, Kashmir, Eritrea, Tigre, the Ogaden, Chad, Niger, Chechnya, the Caucasus and Georgia; the Columbian drug cartels; the fall of Noriega in Panama; the wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador; the Kurdish insurgency in south-eastern Turkey, post-revolution Iran and Saddam’s Iraq; and the war on terror. James writes a widely acclaimed blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer, has published a book with the same title and authors a syndicated column.

Alessandro Arduino

Principal research fellow at the Middle East Institute-NUS

Dr Alessandro Arduino is the principal research fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), National University of Singapore. He is the co-director of the Security & Crisis Management International Centre at the Shanghai Academy of Social Science (SASS) and an associate at Lau China Institute, King’s College London. His two decades of experience in China encompasses security analysis and crisis management. His main research interests include China, Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa relations, sovereign wealth funds, private military/security companies, and China’s security and foreign policy. Alessandro is the author of several books and he has published papers and commentaries in various journals in Italian, English and Chinese. His most recent book is China’s Private Army: Protecting the New Silk Road (Palgrave, 2018). He has been appointed Knight of Order of the Star of Italy by the president of the Italian Republic.

Omer Aslan

Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Omer Aslan is an Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Forum, and a researcher at the Institute for Security Sciences at the Turkish National Police Academy (TNPA). He previously worked at the political research department of the Ankara-based SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research. He received his B.A. degree in political science from Bilkent University. After finishing MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he entered the Ph.D. program in political science at Bilkent University in 2010. Ömer is now a Ph.D. candidate at the same university, currently working on his dissertation in the field of civil-military relations. Among his publications are “A Turkish Muslim Between Islamism and Turkish Nationalism: Seyyid Ahmet Arvasi (1932–88)”, and “‘Unarmed’ we Intervene, Unnoticed we Remain: The Deviant Case of ‘February 28th Coup’ in Turkey “. Research Interests: Military and Politics in the Muslim World, External Actors and Military Coup d’états, Police and Politics.

Joseph Bahout

Director at Issam Fares Institute AUB, Beirut

Ranj Alaaldin

Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institute, Doha

Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı

Director of GMF’s office in Ankara

Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı is the director of GMF’s office in Ankara, Turkey. Prior to joining GMF, he was the manager of the Resource Development Department of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey. Previously, Ünlühisarcıklı worked as the director of the ARI Movement, a Turkish NGO promoting participatory democracy, and as a consultant at AB Consulting and Investment Services

Nikolay Kozhanov

Visiting lecturer at the European University at St. Petersburg

Nikolay Kozhanov is an academy associate at the Russia and Eurasia Program of Chatham House and a visiting lecturer at the European University at St. Petersburg. From 2006 to 2009, he served as an attaché at the political section of the Russian embassy in Tehran. He got his PhD from the St. Petersburg State University. His area of expertise involves Iran's foreign and domestic policies as well the issue of Russian presence in the Middle East.

Nader Kabbani

Director of Research, Brookings Doha Center; Senior Fellow, Brookings Global Economy and Development Program

Director of Research, Brookings Doha Center; Senior Fellow, Brookings Global Economy and Development Program

Yu Jie

Senior Research Fellow on China, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House

Senior Research Fellow on China, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House

Hürcan Aslı Aksoy

Deputy Head of Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS), German Institute of International and Security Affairs

Tarik M. Yousef

Director of Brooking Doha Center and Senior fellow

Tarik M. Yousef is a Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development program and the Director of the Brookings Doha Center. His career has spanned the academic world at Georgetown University and the Harvard Kennedy School; the public policy arena at the IMF, the World Bank and more recently the NGO space at Silatech. He has a PhD in economics from Harvard University

Maria Fantappie

Senior Analyst at International Crisis Group

Maria Fantappie is Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for Iraq. Maria has conducted fieldwork in Iraq and Syria since 2009, and works with other members of the Middle East & North Africa team to research and produce reports on security, conflict, politics, governance, and social issues on Iraq, Syria and the Kurdish regions. She has engaged policymakers on her research at some of the highest levels of government in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

Christian Hanelt

Senior Expert for Middle East, Gulf Region, North Africa, EU Southern Neighbourhood, Bertelsmann Stiftung

Daniela Huber

Head, Mediterranean and Middle East Programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali

Michelle Pace

Associate Fellow, Europe Programme, Chatham House

Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

Dr. Larbi Sidiki

Professor of Arab Democratization at Qatar University

Dr. John Keane

Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney

Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

Lurdes Vidal Bertran

Director of the Arab and Mediterranean World Department, IEMed

Kristina Kausch

Senior Resident Fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States\' (GMF) Brussels office

Kristina Kausch is a Senior Resident Fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States' (GMF) Brussels office. Her research focuses on Europe’s relations with the Middle East and North Africa, and political transformations in the Arab world. Prior to joining GMF, she was a non-resident associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the head of its Middle East program, and research coordinator at FRIDE. She has edited three books and published articles in academic journals.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

Rice University\'s Baker Institute for Public Policy & Associate Fellow, Chatham House.

Tarek Megerisi

Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations

Can Kasapoglu

Director of EDAM

Director of the Security & Defense Research Program at the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM).

Mitat Celikpala

Professor at Kadir Has University

Dr. Mitat Çelikpala is Professor of International Relations and the Dean of Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Kadir Has University, Istanbul. He has also been the board member of the International Relations Council of Turkey since 2004 and the Managing Editor of the Journal of International Relations: Academic Journal. He previously served as an academic advisor to NATO’s Center of Excellence Defense against Terrorism in Ankara (2009-2012) and was Academic Adviser to the Center for Strategic Research (SAM), Turkish Foreign Ministry (2002-2010), and Caspian Strategy Institute, Istanbul Turkey (2012–2013).

Ioannis N. Grigoriadis

Associate Professor and Jean Monnet Chair

Associate Professor at Bilkent University/ The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)

Dimitrios Triantaphyllou

Head of Department at Kadir Has University

Head of Department of International Relations at Kadir Has University

Omer Aslan

Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Omer Aslan is an Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Forum, and a researcher at the Institute for Security Sciences at the Turkish National Police Academy (TNPA). He previously worked at the political research department of the Ankara-based SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research. He received his B.A. degree in political science from Bilkent University. After finishing MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he entered the Ph.D. program in political science at Bilkent University in 2010. Ömer is now a Ph.D. candidate at the same university, currently working on his dissertation in the field of civil-military relations. Among his publications are “A Turkish Muslim Between Islamism and Turkish Nationalism: Seyyid Ahmet Arvasi (1932–88)”, and “‘Unarmed’ we Intervene, Unnoticed we Remain: The Deviant Case of ‘February 28th Coup’ in Turkey “. Research Interests: Military and Politics in the Muslim World, External Actors and Military Coup d’états, Police and Politics.

Emad Shahin

Senior Fellow at Georgetown University

Emad Shahin is the Dean of the College of Islamic Studies (CIS), Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation and a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University. Before joining CIS, he was the Hasib Sabbagh Distinguished Visiting Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies, visiting professor of Political Science at Georgetown University and the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics. He is tenured professor of public policy, The American University in Cairo (on leave). Shahin holds a Ph.D. (1989) from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, M.A. (1983) and BA (1980) from the American University in Cairo. He has taught in leading universities in the United States including Harvard, Notre Dame, Georgetown, George Washington, and Boston University. His research and teaching interests focus on Islam and Politics Comparative Politics, Democracy and Political Reform in Muslim societies, and Political Economy of the Middle East.

Mohammad Affan

Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum

Mohammad Affan is the Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum. A medical doctor by training, Affan obtained his MA degree in Political Science from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University of Cairo (2015). He also holds three post-graduate diplomas: One in “Civil Society and Human Rights”, from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University (2010), another one in Political Research and Studies from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies at the Arab League (2012), and the third diploma in Islamic Studies from the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo (2012). Among his publications is his book titled: “Wahhabism and the Brotherhood: the conflict on the concept of the state and the legitimacy of power.” Affan is currently pursuing his PhD in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Exeter Univesity in the UK. His research interests include, Islamism, State-Theory, and Comparative MENA Studies.

Ismail Yaylaci

Assistant professor at Istanbul Sehir University

Ismail Yaylaci is an assistant professor at Istanbul Sehir University in the department of political science and international relations. He received his PhD from University of Minnesota Social Sciences Institute Political Science in 2014. His research interests are: international relations theory, critical social and political theory, Islamism, and Middle Eastern politics.

Chafic Choucair

Researcher at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies

Chafic Choucair is a researcher at the Al Jazeera Center for Studies specializing in the affairs of the Mashreq (Levant region) and Islamist movements. He holds a PhD in Islamic studies. His research interests include crises in the Levant region, especially the Syrian issue; the Arab-Israeli struggle; Sunni and Shiite trends; and jihadist groups and their intellectual and jurisprudential rhetoric and political orientations.

Tamer Badawi

Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Tamer Badawi is a Research Fellow at Al Sharq Forum. He received an M.A. in International Relations (with a major in International Political Economy) from Central European University in 2016 and a B.A. in Oriental Studies from Alexandria University in 2013. He is a regular contributor to Sada, an online publication managed by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He also contributes reports to the Doha-based Aljazeera Center for Studies. Research interests: The political economy of the Middle East, economic development in post-JCPOA Iran, and global energy market trends.

Milica Delevic

Director, Governance and Political Affairs, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

Marcin Kaczmarski

Lecturer in Security Studies, University of Glasgow

Nora Muller

Executive Director, Körber-Stiftung International Affairs

Arturo Varvelli

Co-Head, MENA Centre, Italian Institute for International Political Studies

Robert Malley

Vice President for Policy, International Crisis Group

Yu Jie

Senior Research Fellow on China, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House

Senior Research Fellow on China, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House

Brad Staples

Chief Executive Officer, APCO Worldwide

Sanam Vakil

Associate Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House

Lord Mark Malloch-Brown

Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations (2006) anc Co-Chair, International Crisis Group

Galip Dalay

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies. He previously worked as a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and as a political researcher at SETA Foundation in Ankara. He is a regular contributor to German Marshall Fund of the United States’ on Turkey policy brief series, and a columnist for Middle East Eye.

DLAWER ALA - ALDEEN

President of Middle East Research Institute (MERI)

Dlawer Ala’Aldeen is the Founding President of the Middle East Research Institute, a policy research institute and think tank based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region (KR) of Iraq (meri-k.org). Between 2009-2012, he was the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan Regional Government, where he lead an ambitious reform program to modernise the higher education system in KR. Prior to this, he was the Professor of Medicine in Nottingham University, UK. He worked in capacity building and nation-building projects in Iraq since 1992 and published extensively on the political dynamics, governance system and democratisation in the Middle East, Iraq and KR.

Dorothee Schmid

Expert on Mediterranean and Middle East issues

Dorothee Schmid is an expert on Mediterranean and Middle East issues. Schmid joined IFRI (The French Institute for International Relations) in 2002 in Paris. She has produced extensive analysis on EU and French policies in the region, induced democratization, the political economy and regional balance of powers. She established the Contemporary Turkey Program in 2008 in order to follow in real time the rise of Turkish foreign policy and the transformations of the Turkish regime. The present agenda of IFRI’s Middle East and Turkey department includes the dynamics of political transitions in the post-Arab spring period, the future of the rentier-state culture, rising conflicts, territorial reorganizations and the new competition for influence among powers. Before focusing on academic research, Dorothée Schmid worked as a country-risk analyst for Bank Crédit agricole-Indosuez and as a Euromed attaché for Cités Unies France, a federation of French local authorities. She has carried out various consulting missions for public institutions (the European Commission, French Ministry of Economy, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs), NGOs and private companies. She authored many articles and reports about Turkey and the Middle East and regularly appears in the French and international media.

Fuat Keyman

Director of Istanbul Policy Center and a Professor of International Relations at Sabancı University

Fuat Keyman is the Director of Istanbul Policy Center and a Professor of International Relations at Sabancı University. Keyman is a leading Turkish political scientist and an expert on democratization, globalization, international relations, Turkey – EU relations, Turkish foreign policy, and civil society development. He is a member of the Science Academy. He has worked as a member on the Council of Wise People as part of the Peace Process to the Kurdish issue. He also serves on advisory and editorial boards for a number of respected international and national organizations as well as for academic journals.

Ibrahim Turhan

Member of Turkish Parliament

Ibrahim Turhan is a member of Turkish Parliament. He previously served as the Chairman and CEO of the İstanbul Stock Exchange, 2012 - 2015. Mr. Turhan was also a member of the Leaders' Circle as well as the Advisory Board of the Global Economic Symposium organized by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Prior to these roles, Mr. Turhan served in a number of capacities with the Central Bank of Turkey, including Deputy Governor post

Tarik M. Yousef

Director of Brooking Doha Center and Senior fellow

Tarik M. Yousef is a Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development program and the Director of the Brookings Doha Center. His career has spanned the academic world at Georgetown University and the Harvard Kennedy School; the public policy arena at the IMF, the World Bank and more recently the NGO space at Silatech. He has a PhD in economics from Harvard University

Kristina Kausch

Senior Resident Fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States\' (GMF) Brussels office

Kristina Kausch is a Senior Resident Fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States' (GMF) Brussels office. Her research focuses on Europe’s relations with the Middle East and North Africa, and political transformations in the Arab world. Prior to joining GMF, she was a non-resident associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the head of its Middle East program, and research coordinator at FRIDE. She has edited three books and published articles in academic journals.

Richard Gowan

Senior Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations

Baroness Ashton of Upholland

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, First Vice President of the European Commission (2009-14)

Mohammad Affan

Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum

Mohammad Affan is the Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum. A medical doctor by training, Affan obtained his MA degree in Political Science from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University of Cairo (2015). He also holds three post-graduate diplomas: One in “Civil Society and Human Rights”, from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University (2010), another one in Political Research and Studies from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies at the Arab League (2012), and the third diploma in Islamic Studies from the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo (2012). Among his publications is his book titled: “Wahhabism and the Brotherhood: the conflict on the concept of the state and the legitimacy of power.” Affan is currently pursuing his PhD in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Exeter Univesity in the UK. His research interests include, Islamism, State-Theory, and Comparative MENA Studies.

Dr. Tarek Mitri

Director of Issam Fares Institute

Ezzeddine Abdelmoula

Manager of Research at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies

Ezzeddine Abdelmoula is the Manager of Research at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Abdelmoula holds a PhD in politics from Exeter University, a Masters of International politics from SOAS and a Masters of political philosophy from La Sorbonne, Paris. He edited and translated books and contributed research papers and book chapters including “Al-Jazeera & Televised Revolution” in Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring (2014). His recent book, “Al Jazeera and Democratization: the Rise of Arab Public Sphere” appeared in 2015

Courtney Freer

Research Officer at Kuwait Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Courtney Freer is a Research Officer at the Kuwait Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her work focuses on the domestic politics of the Arab Gulf states, with a particular focus on Islamism and tribalism. Her DPhil thesis at Oxford University revised rentier state theory by examining the socio-political role played by Muslim Brotherhood groups in Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. She previously worked as a Research Assistant at the Brookings Doha Center.

Seif al-Din Abdul Fattah

Professor of Islamic Sciences at Cairo University

professor of Islamic Sciences at Cairo University

Rudayna Baalbaky

IFI, Arab and International Affairs Program Coordinator

Rudayna Baalbaky is the coordinator of the Arab and International Affairs Program at AUB’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs. She holds an MA in Political Science (Comparative Politics) from the Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth.

Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

Brad Staples

Chief Executive Officer, APCO Worldwide

Galip Dalay

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies. He previously worked as a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and as a political researcher at SETA Foundation in Ankara. He is a regular contributor to German Marshall Fund of the United States’ on Turkey policy brief series, and a columnist for Middle East Eye.

Kristina Kausch

Senior Resident Fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States\' (GMF) Brussels office

Kristina Kausch is a Senior Resident Fellow at The German Marshall Fund of the United States' (GMF) Brussels office. Her research focuses on Europe’s relations with the Middle East and North Africa, and political transformations in the Arab world. Prior to joining GMF, she was a non-resident associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the head of its Middle East program, and research coordinator at FRIDE. She has edited three books and published articles in academic journals.

Jana Puglierin

Head of Programme, Alfred von Oppenheim Center for European Policy Studies, German Council on Foreign Relations

Michael Kohler

Director Neighbourhood, DG for Development Cooperation. European Commission

Robert Malley

Vice President for Policy, International Crisis Group

Lord Mark Malloch-Brown

Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations (2006) anc Co-Chair, International Crisis Group

Tarik M. Yousef

Director of Brooking Doha Center and Senior fellow

Tarik M. Yousef is a Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development program and the Director of the Brookings Doha Center. His career has spanned the academic world at Georgetown University and the Harvard Kennedy School; the public policy arena at the IMF, the World Bank and more recently the NGO space at Silatech. He has a PhD in economics from Harvard University

Fuat Keyman

Director of Istanbul Policy Center and a Professor of International Relations at Sabancı University

Fuat Keyman is the Director of Istanbul Policy Center and a Professor of International Relations at Sabancı University. Keyman is a leading Turkish political scientist and an expert on democratization, globalization, international relations, Turkey – EU relations, Turkish foreign policy, and civil society development. He is a member of the Science Academy. He has worked as a member on the Council of Wise People as part of the Peace Process to the Kurdish issue. He also serves on advisory and editorial boards for a number of respected international and national organizations as well as for academic journals.

Soli Özel

Professor of International Relations at Kadir Has University

Soli Özel is a professor of International Relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul and a columnist at Habertürk daily newspaper. He worked as a guest lecturer at Georgetown, Harvard, Tufts and other US universities and has taught at UC Santa Cruz, SAIS, the University of Washington and the Hebrew University. He is also a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations

Anne Applebaum

Professor in Practice, Institute of Global Affairs, LSE

Anna Arutunyan

Senior Analyst, Russia, International Crisis Group

Bernard Cazeneuve

Prime Minister of France (2016-17)

Michel Duclos

Ambassador of France to Syria (2006-09), and Special Advisor, Geopolitics, Institut Montaigne

Claudia Gazzini

Senior Analyst, Libya, International Crisis Group

Liana Fix

Program Director International Affairs, Körber Foundation

Susan Jakes

Editor, ChinaFile, and Senior Fellow, Center on US-China Relations, Asia Society

Nader Kabbani

Director of Research, Brookings Doha Center; Senior Fellow, Brookings Global Economy and Development Program

Director of Research, Brookings Doha Center; Senior Fellow, Brookings Global Economy and Development Program

Aleksander Kwaśniewski

President of Poland (1995-2005)

Ramtane Lamamra

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Algeria (2013-17) and Board Member, International Crisis Group

Alain Le Roy

Executive Secretary General, European External Action Service (2015-16)

Dominique Moïsi

Visiting Research Professor, King’s College London; Special Advisor, Institut Montaigne

Tom Tugendhat MP

Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling, and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee

Leslie Vinjamuri

Head, US and the Americas Programme; Dean, Queen Elizabeth II Academy

Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

Galip Dalay

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies. He previously worked as a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin and as a political researcher at SETA Foundation in Ankara. He is a regular contributor to German Marshall Fund of the United States’ on Turkey policy brief series, and a columnist for Middle East Eye.

Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi Arabian Dissident Journalist

Jamal Khashoggi is a Saudi journalist, columnist, author, and general manager of the upcoming Al Arab News Channel. He previously served as a media aide to Prince Turki al Faisal while he was Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States. Khashoggi has written for various daily and weekly Arab newspapers, including Asharq al-Awsat, al-Majalla and al-Hayat, and was editor-in-chief of the Saudi-based al-Watan. He was a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan, and other Middle Eastern countries. He is also a political commentator for Saudi-based and international news channels.

Basheer Nafi

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Forum and Senior Research Fellow at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies. He writes weekly columns for Middle East eye. His research interests include Egypt, Iraq, Political Islam, and Middle Eastern Politics in general.

Ali Laarayedh

Ali Laarayedh is the former Prime Minister of Tunisia, he served in the office of Prime Ministry from 2013 to 2014. Previosly, he was the Minister of Interior Affairs in Tunisia between 2011 and 2013.

Cemil Aydin

Professor of Middle Eastern History and Global History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Cemil Aydin is a Professor of Middle Eastern History and Global History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His research and publications offer new ways to understand the historical roots of the contemporary world order by describing the process of imperial era conflicts and decolonization, especially from the perspective of non-Western actors of the Muslim world and East Asia. He studied at the Bogazici University, İstanbul University, and the University of Tokyo before receiving his Ph.D. in History and Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University in 2002. Cemil Aydin’s publications include his book on the Politics of Anti-Westernism in Asia (Columbia University Press, 2007), Regionen und Reiche in der politischen Geschichte des langen 19. Jahrhunderts (1750–1924)” (Region and Empire in the Political History of the Long 19th Century (1750–1924) in Geschichte Der Welt, 1750-1870: Wege Zur Modernen Welt (A History of the World, 1750-1870)“ (Beck Publishers, July 2016) pp: 35-253, and The Idea of the Muslim World: A Global Intellectual History (Harvard University Press, Forthcoming 2017 Spring)

David Hearst

Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East Eye

David Hearst is the Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East Eye, an independent website based in London covering the Middle East in English and French. He writes a column for the Huffington Post’s “The World Post” section and appears as a commentator on the Middle East for Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera English, TRT, Alaraby TV, Russia Today, Masr Al-Aan TV. Prior to that, he was Chief Foreign Leader writer of The Guardian, Associate Foreign Editor, and Moscow Bureau Chief, European Correspondent, and Northern Ireland correspondent.

Ezzeddine Abdelmoula

Manager of Research at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies

Ezzeddine Abdelmoula is the Manager of Research at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Abdelmoula holds a PhD in politics from Exeter University, a Masters of International politics from SOAS and a Masters of political philosophy from La Sorbonne, Paris. He edited and translated books and contributed research papers and book chapters including “Al-Jazeera & Televised Revolution” in Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring (2014). His recent book, “Al Jazeera and Democratization: the Rise of Arab Public Sphere” appeared in 2015

Khalil Al-Anani

Associate Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar

​Dr. Khalil al-Anani is an Associate Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar. He previously taught at Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, George Mason University, and Durham University. His research focuses on Comparative Politics, Democratization, Religion and Politics, Islamist Movements, Social Movements, Egyptian Politics, Identity Politics, and Arab Politics.

Omar Ashour

Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of University of Exeter

Omar Ashour is a Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of University of Exeter and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House in London. He is currently working on a book analysing the military tactics and strategies of IS in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt. He specializes in asymmetric armed conflict, Islamist movements, insurgency/counterinsurgency, terrorism studies, and democratization. He is a regular contributor to media outlets including the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Sky News, CNN, al-Arabiya and others and his op-eds are frequently published in many media outlets in seven languages, in over 40 countries. He previously served as a senior consultant for the United Nations on security sector reform, counter-terrorism, and de- radicalization issues. He is the author of The DeRadicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements.

Omer Aslan

Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Omer Aslan is an Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Forum, and a researcher at the Institute for Security Sciences at the Turkish National Police Academy (TNPA). He previously worked at the political research department of the Ankara-based SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research. He received his B.A. degree in political science from Bilkent University. After finishing MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he entered the Ph.D. program in political science at Bilkent University in 2010. Ömer is now a Ph.D. candidate at the same university, currently working on his dissertation in the field of civil-military relations. Among his publications are “A Turkish Muslim Between Islamism and Turkish Nationalism: Seyyid Ahmet Arvasi (1932–88)”, and “‘Unarmed’ we Intervene, Unnoticed we Remain: The Deviant Case of ‘February 28th Coup’ in Turkey “. Research Interests: Military and Politics in the Muslim World, External Actors and Military Coup d’états, Police and Politics.

Mohammad Affan

Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum

Mohammad Affan is the Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum. A medical doctor by training, Affan obtained his MA degree in Political Science from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the American University of Cairo (2015). He also holds three post-graduate diplomas: One in “Civil Society and Human Rights”, from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University (2010), another one in Political Research and Studies from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies at the Arab League (2012), and the third diploma in Islamic Studies from the Higher Institute for Islamic Studies in Cairo (2012). Among his publications is his book titled: “Wahhabism and the Brotherhood: the conflict on the concept of the state and the legitimacy of power.” Affan is currently pursuing his PhD in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Exeter Univesity in the UK. His research interests include, Islamism, State-Theory, and Comparative MENA Studies.

Ismail Yaylaci

Assistant professor at Istanbul Sehir University

Ismail Yaylaci is an assistant professor at Istanbul Sehir University in the department of political science and international relations. He received his PhD from University of Minnesota Social Sciences Institute Political Science in 2014. His research interests are: international relations theory, critical social and political theory, Islamism, and Middle Eastern politics.

Louay Safi

Professor of political science

Louay Safi is professor of Political Science and Islamic Philosophy at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar and senior fellow at the Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding, Georgetown University. He is the co-founder and first chair of the Syrian American Council (2005-2011), and co-founder and former board member of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (1999-2007). He writes and lectures on issues relating to democracy, human rights, leadership, American Muslims, and Islam and the West.

Tamer Badawi

Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Tamer Badawi is a Research Fellow at Al Sharq Forum. He received an M.A. in International Relations (with a major in International Political Economy) from Central European University in 2016 and a B.A. in Oriental Studies from Alexandria University in 2013. He is a regular contributor to Sada, an online publication managed by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He also contributes reports to the Doha-based Aljazeera Center for Studies. Research interests: The political economy of the Middle East, economic development in post-JCPOA Iran, and global energy market trends.

ZEYNEP KOÇ

Research Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Zeynep Coskun koç is a Research Fellow at Al Sharq Forum. Prior to joining Al Sharq, she was a Dr. Herchel Smith Fellow at the University of Cambridge conducting Economic and Anthropological research concerning the MENA region. Zeynep has an MPhil in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and a B.A. from Williams College in Economics and Arabic Studies. Her research interests include Turkish Foreign Policy, Regional Kurdish Politics, Iraq, Energy Politics and Nationalism

Nabil Al Bukiri

Researcher and chairman of The Arabic Forum

researcher and chairman of The Arabic Forum for Studies

Abdulrahman Al Haj

University professor&one founders of Syrian National Council (SNC).

Abdulrahman Al Haj is a university professor. His research falls at the intersection of politics, religion and society. He published three books and many articles: "Rising of Shiites in Syria: 1919-2007", "State and Community: Aspirations of Religious groups in Syria: 2000-2010", "Political Discourse in the Qur'an: Power, Community and Values". Al-Haj is one of the founders of the Syrian National Council (SNC).

Intissar Fakir

fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Abdelwahab El-Affendi

Dean of the school of social Sciences and Humanities and professor of politics at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

dean of the school of social Sciences and Humanities and professor of politics at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Seif al-Din Abdul Fattah

Professor of Islamic Sciences at Cairo University

professor of Islamic Sciences at Cairo University

Abdulkader Tayob

Professor of Islamic studies at the University of Cape Town

Amgad Jerbil

Palestinian researcher in political science and international relations

Sam Heller

Crisis Group senior analyst on non-state armed groups

Bernard Rougier

Director of the Centre d’Études et de Documentation Economiques

Hussein El-Kazzaz

Former senior leader in the Freedom and Justice Party

Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

David Hearst

Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East Eye

David Hearst is the Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East Eye, an independent website based in London covering the Middle East in English and French. He writes a column for the Huffington Post’s “The World Post” section and appears as a commentator on the Middle East for Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera English, TRT, Alaraby TV, Russia Today, Masr Al-Aan TV. Prior to that, he was Chief Foreign Leader writer of The Guardian, Associate Foreign Editor, and Moscow Bureau Chief, European Correspondent, and Northern Ireland correspondent.

Sami Zeidan

Sami Zeidan is an award winning Senior Presenter with Al Jazeera English since 2005. He was chosen to present the channel’s first live words when AJE launched on November 15th, 2006. Sami joined Al Jazeera after presenting with a number of the largest broadcasters in the world including CNN, CNBC and NBC. As a news anchor and talk show presenter Sami has interviewed a wide range of legendary world leaders, including South African President Nelson Mandela and Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, just to mention a few. Sami’s engaging interviewing style earned him wide recognition and he has been selected to host interviews for the network’s talk show Talk To Al Jazeera. As a reporter Sami has covered several seats of power including the United Nations, the White House and the European Commission, as well as conflict zones stretching from Syria to Korea.

Rt Hon Crispin Blunt MP

Member of Parliament for Reigate, Surrey

Martin Chulov

Middle East correspondent for the Guardian

Bill Law

Sony award-winning journalist

Ajmal Masroor

British Broadcaster

Hugh Miles

Award-winning freelance journalist and editor of ArabDigest.org

Peter Oborne

Former Chief Political Columnist of the Daily Telegraph

Michelle Stanistreet

Secretary General of the National Union of Journalists

Sue Turton

Filmmaker and war correspondent

Omar Ashour

Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of University of Exeter

Omar Ashour is a Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of University of Exeter and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House in London. He is currently working on a book analysing the military tactics and strategies of IS in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt. He specializes in asymmetric armed conflict, Islamist movements, insurgency/counterinsurgency, terrorism studies, and democratization. He is a regular contributor to media outlets including the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Sky News, CNN, al-Arabiya and others and his op-eds are frequently published in many media outlets in seven languages, in over 40 countries. He previously served as a senior consultant for the United Nations on security sector reform, counter-terrorism, and de- radicalization issues. He is the author of The DeRadicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements.

Hakkı Uygur

Deputy Director of İRAM (Iranian Studies Center)

Hakkı Uygur is the Deputy Director of İRAM (Iranian Studies Center). He was born in Berlin, Germany in 1975. After being graduated from high school in Istanbul, he went to Iran for higher education. He received his master’s degree from IKUI Tehran University in History of Islamic Culture and Civilization. He got his PhD program in Persian Language and Literature from Tehran University in 2015

David Jalilvand

Berlin-based analyst and consultant

David Ramin Jalilvand is a Berlin-based analyst and consultant. His work focuses on the interplay of energy and international politics, with a special focus on Iran and the Middle East.

Firas Masri

Political officer at The Shaikh Group (TSG)

Firas Masri is a political officer at The Shaikh Group (TSG) working in the Syria Track II Dialogue Initiative. He was a research assistant at the Brookings Doha Center focusing on conflict resolution, geopolitics, post-conflict reconstruction, and security issues related to the MENA region, specifically the Gulf region. Firas holds a BA in Middle East Studies and Arabic from Emory University and an MA in Middle East Studies and Security Policy from George Washington University.

Assaad Achi

Executive Director of Baytna Syria

Assaad Al Achi is a Syrian economist and activist. He is the executive director of Baytna Syria. He worked for the American Oil and Gas Company ConocoPhillips. Al Achi became part of the revolutionary movement in Syria, joining the Syrian National Council in December 2011 and helping establish the Assistance Coordination Unit of the Syrian Opposition Coalition in December 2012. He graduated from the American University of Beirut with a bachelor’s in business administration and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Mohammad Al Sabri

Leader of the Nasserite Unionist People’s Organization

He is a member and Spokesman of the Presidency of the National Assembly, member of the General Secretariat of the Unified Popularist Nasserite Organization, member of the Supreme Council of the Joint Meeting Parties, member of the National Council for the Peaceful Revolution in Yemen, member of the executive board of the Social Democratic Forum, He is a member of the Comprehensive Dialogue Conferenc, memember of the executive board of the National Council.

Wadah Khanfar

President of The Al Sharq Forum

Wadah Khanfar is the President of the Al Sharq Forum and former Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He is a board member of the International Crisis Group and Global Editors Network (GEN). Khanfar has been named as one of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 global thinkers of 2011 as well as one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ of the year.

Omer Aslan

Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

Omer Aslan is an Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Forum, and a researcher at the Institute for Security Sciences at the Turkish National Police Academy (TNPA). He previously worked at the political research department of the Ankara-based SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research. He received his B.A. degree in political science from Bilkent University. After finishing MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he entered the Ph.D. program in political science at Bilkent University in 2010. Ömer is now a Ph.D. candidate at the same university, currently working on his dissertation in the field of civil-military relations. Among his publications are “A Turkish Muslim Between Islamism and Turkish Nationalism: Seyyid Ahmet Arvasi (1932–88)”, and “‘Unarmed’ we Intervene, Unnoticed we Remain: The Deviant Case of ‘February 28th Coup’ in Turkey “. Research Interests: Military and Politics in the Muslim World, External Actors and Military Coup d’états, Police and Politics.

Mariya Petkova

Bulgarian journalist

Mariya Petkova is a Bulgarian journalist covering the Middle East, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. She is currently deputy editor at Al Jazeera English

Ismail Yaylaci

Assistant professor at Istanbul Sehir University

Ismail Yaylaci is an assistant professor at Istanbul Sehir University in the department of political science and international relations. He received his PhD from University of Minnesota Social Sciences Institute Political Science in 2014. His research interests are: international relations theory, critical social and political theory, Islamism, and Middle Eastern politics.