may, 2018

06may08:0020:00Towards New Security Arrangements for the MENA Region

Simultaneous Translation - Simultane Çeviri -  الترجمة الفورية

■ Simultaneous translation will be available in Turkish, Arabic and English

■ Konferansımızda Türkçe, İngilizce ve Arapça simültane çeviri olacaktır

■ الترجمة الفورية ستكون متاحة باللغات: الانجليزيه، التركية، والعربية

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Event Description

Conference Booklet
 
Al Sharq Forum together with the Afro-Middle East Centre (AMEC) hosted the third annual security conference in Istanbul on May 6 2018, to discuss “New Security Arrangements for the MENA Region.” Al Sharq Forum and AMEC have together hosted security conferences annually, and this year the conference will follow up the theme of last year’s event ‘Towards a New Security Architecture in the MENA Region’. Last year, we established the need for new security arrangements in the region, and this year we hope to deliberate on the objectives and details of new security frameworks in the region. This conference will bring together experts, policymakers, and current and former state officials, as well as representatives of international agencies, to share their perspectives, provide new insights on current security issues, and suggest frameworks for new security arrangements in the region.

Time

(Sunday) 08:00 - 20:00

Location

Istanbul Marriott Hotel Sisli

Schedule

    • Day 1
    • 6 May 2018

    • 09:00 Opening Ceremony09:00 - 10.00 Opening CeremonySpeakers: Wadah Khanfar

    • 10:00 Plenary Session 1 The Changing Nature of Conflicts and Threat Perceptions: Areas of Contention and Cooperation for a New Security Architecture in the MENA Region10:00 - 11.30 Plenary 1: The Changing Nature of Conflicts and Threat Perceptions: Areas of Contention and Cooperation for a New Security Architecture in the MENA Region - This session will focus on the changing nature of conflicts and threats perceptions in the MENA region and their impact on the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in the region. The gap in regional actors’ threat perceptions has been one of the main driving factors behind the deepening regional crisis. The changing nature of threat perceptions in the eyes of regional and international players has also shaped the changing nature of the conflicts in the region. In return, changes in conflicts have generated new areas of threats or threat perceptions. To break this vicious cycle, it is not only important that we have a better understanding of the changing nature of the conflicts and the threat perceptions of the major players in the region, it is also crucial that regional players have a better comprehension of where the areas of contention are and where cooperation can start. The actors of the region dynamically dissolve and form alliances as they adapt to perceived threats and opportunities in the region. Therefore, it is also important to look at how regional actors make and break ties while assessing the durability of regional blocs likely to emerge in the foreseeable future. ● What is the nature of current conflicts in the region and how have they evolved? ● How have the threat perceptions of major players changed in the region? ● Can there be a regional consensus on regional threat perceptions? How and on what issues could this consensus emerge? ● What other tools and methods can be added to the existing ones to improve channels of communication among regional actors? ● What are the contemporary regional axes in the MENA region? What are the dynamics behind their formation? ● How solid and stable is each regional axis? What are the discrepancies in foreign policy objectives and approaches among states within the same regional axis? ● How do political ties affect social and economic relations in the region?Speakers: Seyed Kazem Sajjadpour, Galip Dalay, Jamal Khashoggi, Mesut Ozcan, Falah Mustafa Bakir, Joost Hiltermann, Mustafa Abushagur

    • 11.30 Coffee Break11.30 - 12.00 Coffee Break

    • 12.00 Parallel Sessions 1 State and Non-State Actors12.00 - 13.30 Parallel Session 1: State and Non-State Actors - The MENA region is teeming with armed non-state actors, who enjoy different modalities of power relations with regional actors. But the phenomenon of non-state actors is largely a function and product of the regional state system. Any discussion on the non-state actors in the region will remain incomplete unless it also includes a discussion on the nature and deficiency of the states of the region. This session aims to address the following questions: ● What is the defining nature of the regional state system? How does it create conducive grounds for the emergence of non-state actors? ● State-centric vs. decentralized approaches: How can we comprehend and address the question of non-state actors in the region? ● How do non-state actors gain audience and acceptance in the region? How do they problematize the state in the region? ● What are the typologies of non-state actors in the region? ● How do regional powers interact with non-state actors? ● Elimination vs. Integration: What should be the modalities and criteria of engagement with non-state actors?Speakers: Joseph Bahout, Basheer Nafi, Dlawer Ala - Aldeen, Omar Ashour, Sinan Hatahet, Erica Gaston, Ronnie Kasrils

    • 12.00 Parallel Session 2 Traditional Actors and New Players: The Role of Global Actors in the Region 12.00 - 13.30Parallel Session 2: Traditional Actors and New Players: The Role of Global Actors in the Region - The Sharq region has been one prominent location where global actors like the U.S., Russia and European countries have become involved and/or invested in the region. The degrees of engagement of these actors have varied with different conjectural realities. Now the Sharq region is also in the scope of transregional actors like China and India. The aim of this session is to evaluate the roles and policies of traditional actors like the U.S., the EU and Russia in the face of new players in the region, and how these nonregional actors are affecting regional interactions, alliances, axes and conflicts. ● How did the policies of traditional actors evolve in the region? ● What are the driving objectives of new players for getting involved in the region? ● How are new actors engaging with the region, and what tools do they employ? How effective are these tools? ● How do old and new players interact with the region? Do they compete with or complement one another? ● How do regional and non-regional actors engage with the region?Speakers: Zeynep Coskun, Garth le Pere, Kristina Kausch, Nikolay Kozhanov, Payam Mohseni, Magdalena Kirchner, Engseng Ho

    • 13.30 Lunch Break13.30 - 15.00 Lunch Break

    • 15.00 Parallel Session 3 Shifting markets, changing climate, rising conflicts - energy and security challenges for the Middle East15.00 - 16.30Parallel Session 3: Shifting markets, changing climate, rising conflicts - energy and security challenges for the Middle East - The security dynamics in the region have often been categorized around armed conflicts, coups, military confrontations, intervention and invasions. However, the MENA region is also facing an array of ‘nonconventional’ security threats such as the scarcity of water and food, energy insecurities, and climate change. This session will discuss how these issues affect different dimensions of regional security, and whether these areas are conducive to cooperation in the region. ● How vital is the water-food-energy nexus in the region, and what is the regional approach to confronting these non-conventional threats? ● How aware are the public and political establishment of the security challenges climate change is posing? ● How can we achieve bilateral and multilateral cooperation over these threats? ● What could be the format for intra-regional cooperation on non-conventional security threats? Speakers: David Jalilvand, Charles Elinas, Nadim Farajalla, Rana El Hajj, Malek Kabariti, Louy Al Khatib

    • 15.00 Parallel Session 4: Regional Rivalries, Civil Strife and a Security Quagmire: The case of Yemen and Scenarios for Solutions15.00 - 16.30Parallel Session 4: Regional Rivalries, Civil Strife and a Security Quagmire: The case of Yemen and Scenarios for Solutions - The political chaos in Yemen has turned into one of the worst civil and regional conflicts in the MENA region. From civil war to the Saudi-led campaign and blockade, the crisis in Yemen deepens day by day with no concrete efforts to abate the situation. The UN has declared the humanitarian situation in Yemen to be the worst humanitarian crisis and worst cholera outbreak in recent history. Beyond its internal conflicts, Yemen has become another focal point for regional powers to clash in their efforts to achieve regional dominance and influence. Given its already fractured society and turmoiled political history, Yemen can no longer endure the burden of these clashes and the deepening security crisis. There has been political improvements and agreements reached as a result of 2014 National Dialogue effort, and 2016 UN sponsored talks. Now it is imperative to restart the discussion on Yemen by looking beyond the current quagmire in hopes of envisioning and encouraging a political solution in Yemen in the footsteps of the previous efforts. The aim of this session is to evaluate the security crisis in Yemen and to come up with dynamic thinking, which would lead the path to de-escalation and political reconciliation. • Who are the major stakeholders in the Yemeni crisis? How can we curb war gains to deter violence and to encourage negotiations? • What has been the role of international actors and institutions in responding to the Yemeni crisis? • How can we insulate Yemen from regional actors’ clashes over power and influence? How can we break down sectarian tensions in the country? What are the subjects of national consensus? • What should be the basis for starting the political reconciliation process? What are the main obstacles lying on the way to a political solution? From where can cooperation and consensus emerge? How can we think beyond political affiliations to start de-escalation? What should be the principle for de-escalation? Can human security be the main agreed grounds for achieving de-escalation?Speakers: Mohammad Affan, Mohammad Al Sabri, Abdalwahhab Muawdah, Mohammad Abdul Malek, Ibrahim Al Dalemi

    • 16.30 Coffee Break16.30 - 16.50 Coffee Break

    • 16.50 Plenary Session 2 Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation Towards a New Security Arrangement in the Region16.50 - 18.20Plenary Session 2: Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation Towards a New Security Arrangement in the Region - The security crisis in the region means that working towards a new security arrangement in the region indispensable for a peaceful future in the region. Possible solutions to this regional security crisis can be sustainable if only built in a larger security framework for the region. The main building block in this framework should be regional cooperation. This final session will explore avenues for and possibilities of regional cooperation and a new security arrangement. ● What are the shared interests, values, threats, and/or challenges in the MENA region that could allow regional cooperation? ● What existing or potential bilateral, trilateral or multilateral engagements (or bases for such relationships) are there in the region that can pave the way for regional cooperation? ● What/Who should be the referent object and concept of a new regional security architecture in the region? Individuals and human security; societies & communities; economic and environmental security; or states & national security? ● Can regional human movement (migration, refugees) and the need for infrastructure for regional connectivity provide an impetus for regional cooperation?Speakers: Dorothee Schmid, Na’eem Jeenah, Kayhan Barzegar, Mohammed Dangor, Louay Safi, Filippo Dionigi, Mehmet Asutay

Speakers for this event

  • Omar Ashour

    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.

    Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at t...

  • Hakkı Uygur

    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

    Deputy Director of İRAM (Iranian Studie...

  • David Jalilvand

    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.

    Berlin-based analyst and consultant

  • Firas Masri

    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.

    Political officer at The Shaikh Group (T...

  • Assaad Achi

    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.

    Executive Director of Baytna Syria

  • Mohammad Al Sabri

    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.

    Leader of the Nasserite Unionist People...

  • Wadah Khanfar

    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.

    President of The Al Sharq Forum

  • Omer Aslan

    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.

    Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic R...

  • Mariya Petkova

    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

    Bulgarian journalist

  • Ismail Yaylaci

    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.

    Assistant professor at Istanbul Sehir Un...

  • Bader Mustafa

    Bader Mustafa

    Analyst at Omran Strategic Center for Studies

    Bedir Mulla Rashid is an analyst working on Kurdish affairs at OMRAN Center for Strategic Studies. His research focuses on autonomous administration in Northern Syria. He is an MA candidate in political science and international relations.

    Analyst at Omran Strategic Center for St...

  • Annalisa Perteghella

    Annalisa Perteghella

    Research Fellow at ISPI

    Annalisa Perteghella is a research fellow at ISPI and is in charge of the Iran Desk at the Institute’s MENA Centre. She holds a PhD in Politics and Institutions. Her research focuses on transatlantic relations, Iran, and European foreign policy issues especially vis-à-vis the Middle East. She edits the bi-monthly “Iran Watch” for ISPI’s Business Scenarios Centre. She recently edited the Report Post-Vote Iran: Giving Engagement a Chance.

    Research Fellow at ISPI

  • Abdalwahhab Muawdah

    Abdalwahhab Muawdah

    Advisor to the Yemeni Prime Minister for Political Affairs

    Advisor to the Yemeni Prime Minister for Political Affairs

    Advisor to the Yemeni Prime Minister for...

  • Joseph Bahout

    Joseph Bahout

    Director at Issam Fares Institute AUB, Beirut

    Director at Issam Fares Institute AUB, B...

  • Mohammad Affan

    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.

    Training Director at Al-Sharq Forum

  • Tarik M. Yousef

    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

    Director of Brooking Doha Center and Sen...

  • Nikolay Kozhanov

    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.

    Visiting lecturer at the European Univer...

  • Hosam Hafez

    Hosam Hafez

    The director of QCM

    Mohammed Hosam Hafez is the director of QCM, a law, politics and society institute for consultations, studies and training based in Istanbul. He focuses on issues related to International Law, International Relations and negotiations in the context of the Syrian conflict. He participated in the Geneva negotiations of 2014 and was also a member of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) and the head of its Legal Bureau during negotiations of 2016–2017.

    The director of QCM

  • Abdulrahman Al Haj

    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).

    University professor&one founders of Syr...

  • Mohammad Abdul Malek

    Mohammad Abdul Malek

    Assistant secretary-general of Al-Islah party in Aden

    Bachelor of Economics, Master of International Relations, University of Sudan. Assistant Secretary of Aden Reform

    Assistant secretary-general of Al-Islah ...

  • Ranj Alaaldin

    Ranj Alaaldin

    Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institute, Doha

    Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institute, Do...

  • Salah Eddine Elzein

    Salah Eddine Elzein

    Director of Al Jazeera Centre for Studies

    Salah Eddin Elzein is a Sudanese scholar currently serving as an adviser to the Director General of Aljazeera Media Network. From 2010 to 2018, Salah was the Director of Al Jazeera Centre for Studies; Al Jazeera Network’s think-tank and research Centre. Prior to joining Al Jazeera, he was a university professor and researcher in South Africa. Salah holds a PhD and Master’s degrees in Development Planning from the University of the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    Director of Al Jazeera Centre for Studie...

  • Mohammed Dangor

    Mohammed Dangor

    Ambassador, Middle East and North Africa advisor to the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

    As an ambassador Mohammed Dangor is the Middle East and North Africa advisor to the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. He previously served South African ambassador to Syria and to Libya. Ambassador Dangor has a long history in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, and served in the underground movement of the African National Congress.

    Ambassador, Middle East and North Africa...

  • Ahmet Kasım Han

    Ahmet Kasım Han

    Associate professor at Kadir Has University

    Ahmet K. Han is an associate professor at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. He also serves as a member of the board of EDAM, a Turkish think-tank. He is a graduate of Istanbul University Faculty of Economics and received his Ph.D. on International Relations in the same institution. Han specializes in Turkish foreign policy, Middle East, Energy, strategic studies, strategic thinking and focuses on systemic change in international relations.

    Associate professor at Kadir Has Univers...

  • Taguiah Haoues

    Taguiah Haoues

    Researcher at Al Jazeera Center for Studies

    Haoues Taguia is a researcher at the Al Jazeera Center for Studies and is responsible for the Gulf States program. His last publication is The Blockade of Qatar: The Contexts and Repercussions of the Gulf Crisis. He focuses in his research on the interaction of geopolitics, social dynamics, and security.

    Researcher at Al Jazeera Center for Stud...

  • Engseng Ho

    Engseng Ho

    Professor of Anthropology and History at Duke University

    Engseng Ho is professor of Anthropology and History at Duke University. He is the director of the Middle East Institute, and Muhammad Alagil distinguished visiting professor of Arabia Asia Studies at the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. He was previously professor of anthropology at Harvard University, and senior scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. He is an expert on Arab/Muslim diasporas across the Indian Ocean, and their relations with Western empires, past and present.

    Professor of Anthropology and History a...

  • Ibrahim Al Dalemi

    Ibrahim Al Dalemi

    Lawyer and the general manager of the Masera media network

    Ibrahim Al Dailami is a lawyer and the general manager of the Masera media network

    Lawyer and the general manager of the Ma...

  • Seyed Kazem Sajjadpour

    Seyed Kazem Sajjadpour

    Head, Center for International Research and Education Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran

    Head, Center for International Research ...

  • Walter Posch

    Walter Posch

    Senior Research Fellow at the National Defence Academy in Vienna

    Dr. Walter Posch is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Defence Academy in Vienna, Dr. Posch holds a PHD in Iranian Studies and a MA in Turkish studies, he focusses on modern Iran, modern Turkey and the Kurdish issue. Previously, he was posted at the European institute of Security Studies EUISS in Paris and at the German Institute for Foreign and Strategic Affairs SWP in Berlin.

    Senior Research Fellow at the National D...

  • Andreas Krieg

    Andreas Krieg

    Assistant professor for Defence Studies at King\'s College

    Andreas Krieg is an assistant professor for Defense Studies at the School for Security Studies at King's College London. He is also the co-founder of the Near East Centre for Security and Strategy (NECSS) at King's. In his research, Andreas has focused on a variety of different subjects relating to the academic discipline of Security Studies. More recently, Andreas has been exploring the nexus between security and socio-politics in the Middle East after the Arab Spring.

    Assistant professor for Defence Studies ...

  • Adel Abdel Ghafar

    Adel Abdel Ghafar

    Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings

    Adel Abdel Ghafar is a fellow at the Foreign Policy program at Brookings and at the Brookings Doha Center. He specializes in political economy and his research interests include state-society relations and socio-economic development in the MENA region. Abdel Ghafar has consulted for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on political, economic, and security issues pertaining to the MENA region. He holds a Ph.D from the Australian National University.

    Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at ...

  • Charles Elinas

    Charles Elinas

    Nonresident Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council

    Charles Ellinas is the CEO of e-CNHC (E-C Cyprus Natural Hydrocarbons Company Ltd), providing management and advisory services in the oil, gas and energy sectors in Cyprus and the region. Prior to this, he was responsible for implementing the Cypriot government’s strategy for the development of its hydrocarbons sector. He was a director of Mott MacDonald for 25 years. He is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

    Nonresident Senior Fellow at Atlantic Co...

  • Nadim Farajalla

    Nadim Farajalla

    Director of the Climate Change and the Environment Program at the American University of Beirut

    Nadim Farajalla is the director of the Climate Change and the Environment Program at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. He holds an MS in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, an MS and a PhD in environmental engineering from the University of Oklahoma, USA. He has worked extensively in the private sector in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His current research focuses on the nexus of water-energy-food and the impact of climate change on human settlements.

    Director of the Climate Change and the E...

  • Galip Dalay

    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.

    Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Stra...

  • Zeynep Coskun

    Zeynep Coskun

    Former Research Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research

    Zeynep Coskun 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

    Former Research Fellow at Al Sharq Strat...

  • Mohanad Hage Ali

    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.

    Academician and political journalist and...

  • Ahmet Faruk Aysan

    Ahmet Faruk Aysan

    Dean of the School of Management and Administrative Sciences at the Istanbul Sehir University

    Ahmet Faruk Aysan is the dean of the School of Management and Administrative Sciences at the Istanbul Sehir University. Previously, he was a Board Member and Monetary Policy Committee Member of the Central Bank of Republic of Turkey. He holds a PhD from the University of Maryland College Park. His fields of specialization are international finance, political economy, governance and development. He has also served at the advisory board of the Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE.

    Dean of the School of Management and Adm...

  • Bahador Aminian

    Bahador Aminian

    The director general for education department at Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    Bahador Aminian is the director-general for the education and training department at Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    The director general for education depar...

  • Rana El Hajj

    Rana El Hajj

    Program manager for Climate Change and Environment at the American University of Beirut

    Rana El Hajj is the program manager for Climate Change and Environment at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Her current focus areas include climate change adaptation, water-energy- food security nexus, regional security, water governance and resilience in cities. El Hajj holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences with a focus on Ecosystem management and an Agriculture Engineering diploma from the American University of Beirut .

    Program manager for Climate Change and E...

  • Jamal Khashoggi

    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.

    Saudi Arabian Dissident Journalist

  • Zeynep Kaya

    Zeynep Kaya

    Research Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre and a Research Officer at the LSE Centre for Women

    Zeynep Kaya is a Research Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre and a Research Officer at the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security. Zeynep is currently researching gender, displacement and the implementation of the WPS agenda in Iraq. Her wider research interests are in the international politics of the Middle East with a focus on Kurdish politics in Iraq, Syria and Turkey, as well as Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy. Zeynep recently completed a research project on how international-local interaction shapes gender norm compliance in Iraqi Kurdistan, and she is currently leading a project on responses to internal displacement in Iraqi Kurdistan. Zeynep completed her PhD in International Relations at LSE and is currently working on her book Mapping Kurdistan: Self-determination, Territoriality and Quest for Statehood.

    Research Fellow at the LSE Middle East C...

  • Kristina Kausch

    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.

    Senior Resident Fellow at The German Mar...

  • Erica Gaston

    Erica Gaston

    Fellow with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi)

    Erica Gaston is a fellow with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin and a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. Her research focus is on local, hybrid, and substate forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Gaston has worked as a human rights lawyer, conflict analyst and rule of law specialist for the last decade. Gaston holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University.

    Fellow with the Global Public Policy Ins...

  • Ali Okumus

    Ali Okumus

    Member at ORDAF

    Ali Okumuş is an analyst in the oil politics of the MENA region and a member of the Association of Researchers on the Middle East and Africa (ORDAF). He studied Turkic Studies at Marmara University in 2010 and wrote his MA thesis about oil rivalry in the Middle East. He started his ongoing PhD in 2015 entitled Oil Policy in the Middle East: International Competition, Concessions, and Agreements.

    Member at ORDAF

  • Thomas Fink

    Thomas Fink

    Research fellow at the German based Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy

    Thomas Fink is a research fellow at the German based Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Wuppertal. He has a special focus on sustainable energy system transformation and renewable energy market development in North Africa and Middle East (MENA). He has done several studies on the socio-economic aspects of renewable energies in MENA and the energy-climate-water nexus.

    Research fellow at the German based Wupp...

  • Can Acun

    Can Acun

    Research Assistant at SETA Foreign Policy Department

    Can Acun is a researcher at the SETA Foreign Policy Department. He received his BA from the International Relations Department of the Eastern Mediterranean University and an MA from the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at Yeditepe University. Acun also conducted research for SETA at the Center for Turkey Research in Cairo, Egypt. His research focus is ISIS, al-Qaida, Syria and Iraq.

    Research Assistant at SETA Foreign Polic...

  • John Bell

    John Bell

    Director of the Middle East & Mediterran Programme at the Toledo International Centre for Peace

    John Bell is the Director of the Middle East & Mediterranean Programme at the Toledo International Centre for Peace, and the Director of The Conciliators Guild, an organization dedicated to new foundations for policy development and excellence in diplomacy. He was formerly Middle East Director in Jerusalem for Search for Common Ground. He was also an advisor to the Canadian Government during the Iraq crisis

    Director of the Middle East & Mediterran...

  • Talha Köse

    Talha Köse

    Associate Professor of Political Science at Ibn Haldun University

    Talha Köse is the chair and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Ibn Haldun University. He completed his PhD at George Mason University in 2010. His research focuses on conflicts and political violence in the Middle East and conflict resolution approaches in foreign policy. Köse worked as a foreign policy and security analyst at the SETA Foundation. Köse’s comments on foreign policy, security and op-eds appear frequently in Turkish and international media.

    Associate Professor of Political Science...

  • Navvar Saban

    Navvar Saban

    The Information Unit Manager and military analyst at Omran Center for Strategic Studies

    Navvar Saban is the information unit manager and military analyst at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies. He holds a MBA from the Australian University of Wollongong and a BA from the American University of Dubai. He produces special military reports and maps about the MENA Region, particularly in Syria. He publishes articles on Syria Deeply and the Atlantic Council, and has been named by Syria Deeply as one of the most significant military experts in both Syria and Iraq.

    The Information Unit Manager and militar...

  • Mehmet Asutay

    Mehmet Asutay

    Professor at Durham University

    Mehmet Asutay is a professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Political Economy and Finance at the Durham University Business School. His teaching, research, publication, and supervision of research is all in Islamic moral economy, Islamic finance and banking, Islamic political economy, Islamic governance and management and the political economies of the Middle East. He is also the director of the Durham Centre in Islamic Economics and Finance.

    Professor at Durham University

  • M. Hassan Panjeshahi

    M. Hassan Panjeshahi

    Professor of Chemical Engineering and Dean of Institute of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Tehran

    Hassan Panjeshahi is the Head of Energy and Environment group at the Iran Academy of Sciences. He is currently a professor of Chemical Engineering and Dean of the Institute of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Tehran. He is the founder and the first president of the Iran Energy Association and the founder and the first Editor-in- chief of the Iranian Journal of Energy affiliated to the World Energy Council. He holds a PhD from the University of Manchester in UK.

    Professor of Chemical Engineering and De...

  • David Hearst

    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.

    Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East Eye

  • Sinan Hatahet

    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.

    Senior Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Stra...

  • Lurdes Vidal

    Lurdes Vidal

    The Director of the Arab and Mediterranean Department at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed)

    Lurdes Vidal is editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal afkar/ideas and contributes to a diverse range of media. She lectures on the subject of Arab Politics in the master's program on the Arab and Islamic World at the University of Barcelona. She holds a degree in Translation and Interpretation from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and studied International Relations.

    The Director of the Arab and Mediterrane...

  • Ayman Dassouqui

    Ayman Dassouqui

    Researcher at Omran Center for Strategic Studies.

    Ayman Aldassouky is a researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies. He is currently a Master's student in International Relations at Gazi University in Ankara. His research is concentrated on governance and local councils, jihadi movements, and the relations between states in the Middle East. He previously worked as an executive researcher at the Orient Center for International Studies between 2009–2010’, and as a researcher at the Sham Center for Research and Studies from its establishment in 2012 until 2014.

    Researcher at Omran Center for Strategic...

  • Hatice Ilbay Söylemez

    Hatice Ilbay Söylemez

    PhD candidate at the University of Zurich Social Anthropology Department

    Hatice Söylemez is a PhD candidate at the University of Zurich at the Social Anthropology Department. She obtained a BA from Boğaziçi University in History and an MA in East and Southeast Asian Studies from Lund University. She worked as a researcher at Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and a project coordinator at International Centre for Migration Policy Development.

    PhD candidate at the University of Zuric...

  • Malek Kabariti

    Malek Kabariti

    Former Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Jordan

    Malek Kabariti is a Former Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) in The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He was the President of the National Energy Research Center (NERC), a Chairman of the National Electric Power Co (NEPCO) and a Director of the Renewable Energy Research Center (RERC) - The Royal Scientific Society (RSS) in the Kingdom.

    Former Minister of Energy and Mineral Re...

  • DLAWER ALA - ALDEEN

    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.

    President of Middle East Research Instit...

  • Yury Barmin

    Yury Barmin

    Consultant whose work focuses on issues Related to the Middle East

    Yury Barmin is a risk consultant whose work focuses on issues related to the Middle East and Russia’s positioning in the region. Mr Barmin holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. He is an Expert at the Russian International Affairs Council covering the Middle East and North Africa, Moscow’s policy towards the region as well as the conflict in Syria

    Consultant whose work focuses on issues ...

  • Kamaran Palani

    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.

    Research Fellow at the Middle Eastern Re...

  • Lucia Ardovini

    Lucia Ardovini

    Scholar of Political Islam

    Dr. Lucia Ardovini is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI). She is a scholar of Political Islam, and her current project focuses on the politics of contested spaces and on shifting notions of citizenship and belonging in the post-Arab Uprisings Middle East. Lucia received her PhD in International Relations from Lancaster University (UK) in 2017.

    Scholar of Political Islam

  • Mike Sarjoo

    Mike Sarjoo

    Michael Sarjoo serves in the senior management structures of the security services of South Africa. He was the Head of the training directorate in the Security Services. He was Counsellor Political for four years in the South African Embassy in Saudi Arabia. He also served in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Yemen.

  • Fouad Gehad Marei

    Fouad Gehad Marei

    Lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics at the Free University of Berlin

    Fouad Gehad Marei is a Lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics at the Free University of Berlin and a Visiting Research Fellow at the German Orient-Institut in Beirut. He is a Senior Policy Analyst and Conflict Stabilisation and Transformation Consultant. Fouad holds a PhD from Durham University. He received several research grant awards from the Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL).

    Lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics at t...

  • Dorothee Schmid

    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.

    Expert on Mediterranean and Middle East ...

  • Kayhan Barzegar

    Kayhan Barzegar

    Director of the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran

    Barzegar is the Director of the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran. He is also Associate Professor of International Relations and the Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Science and Research Branch of the Islamic Azad University. Dr. Barzegar was a Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center. Dr. Barzegar is Editor-in-Chief of Discourse: An Iranian English Quarterly

    Director of the Institute for Middle Eas...

  • Ali Ahmad

    Ali Ahmad

    Scholar at American University of Beirut

    Ali Ahmad is a scholar-in-residence and director for the Energy Policy and Security Program at the American University of Beirut. His research and teaching cover nuclear security, energy policy and economics. Prior to joining AUB, he was a research fellow at Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security. Beside academia, Ahmad is also involved with governmental and investment consultancy on energy issues. He holds his PhD from Cambridge University.

    Scholar at American University of Beirut

  • Louay Safi

    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.

    Professor of political science

  • Ronnie Kasrils

    Ronnie Kasrils

    Activist in the Palestine Solidarity Movement

    Ronnie Kasrils has long been a leading voice and activist in the Palestine Solidarity Movement. He served in various portfolios in the new democratic government from 1994 to 2008, including deputy minister of defense, minister of water and forestry and minister of intelligence services. Kasrils was a commander in the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC) from its inception in 1961 to its victory over apartheid in 1990.

    Activist in the Palestine Solidarity Mov...

  • Mona Alami

    Mona Alami

    Mona Alami is a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. She has a focus on terrorist organizations and militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Jordan. She writes extensively on Hezbollah, the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Alami holds an MBA from the Lebanese American University and is currently completing her PhD in geopolitics at Lumière University Lyon 2.

  • Edhem Foco

    Edhem Foco

    Director of Al Jazeera Network in Sarajevo

    Edhem Foco is the Director of Al Jazeera Network in Sarajevo. Edhem Foco was initiator and one of the founders of Al Jazeera Balkans, news channel that broke the barriers in the turbulent region of the Balkans. The channel’s success was recognized in a number of awards it won in just a few years and Mr. Foco was voted as Vision Manager of the Year 2014 for the region. He studied Law and Shari’ah at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, and speaks six languages. In his business career Mr. Foco has professed his leadership expertise while gaining a multitude of experiences in various business sectors such as Consultancy, Oil & Gas, International Trade, Food & Beverage and Investments.

    Director of Al Jazeera Network in Saraje...

  • Adam Bensaid

    Adam Bensaid

    Deputy Producer, TRT World

    Adam Atauallah Bensaid is a Researcher at SESRIC, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, where he conducts policy and strategy design for OIC member states in the fields of security sector reform, CVE, national security capacity building and deradicalization. He completed his Msc in Strategic and Defense Studies from the University of Malaya, Malaysia, and is currently completing an MA in International Relations and Contemporary War from King's College London

    Deputy Producer, TRT World

  • Aslı Aydıntaşbas

    Aslı Aydıntaşbas

    Expert on Turkish domestic and foreign policy

    Asli Aydintasbas is a senior policy fellow at European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and an expert on Turkish domestic and foreign policy. She is also a columnist for Cumhuriyet. Prior to joining ECFR, Aydintasbas worked as a journalist, writing a regular column for Milliyet, hosting a political discussion show on CNN Turk, and making frequent contributions to publications such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. She holds a Master’s degree from New York University.

    Expert on Turkish domestic and foreign p...

  • Laura Pitel

    Laura Pitel

    Turkey’s correspondent for the Financial Times

    Laura Pitel is the Turkey correspondent for the Financial Times, covering Turkish politics and society, foreign policy, business and the economy. She is based in Ankara, and has lived in Turkey since 2015.

    Turkey’s correspondent for the Financi...

  • Chafic Choucair

    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.

    Researcher at Al Jazeera Centre for Stud...

  • Tamer Badawi

    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.

    Associate Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic R...

  • Ezzeddine Abdelmoula

    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

    Manager of Research at Al Jazeera Centre...

  • Ammar Kahf

    Ammar Kahf

    Co-Founder and Executive Director of OMRAN Center for Studies

    Ammar Kahf is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Omran for Strategic Studies, and a Board Member of the Syrian Forum. He earned his Ph.D at the Interdisciplinary Program for Islamic Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles with a subfield focus on political science, history and sociology. His dissertation research was entitled "Syrian Authoritarianism: Persistence or Change?" His research work focuses on geopolitical political studies, transitional period comparative studies, local governance, and economic development

    Co-Founder and Executive Director of OMR...

  • Azadeh Zamiriad

    Azadeh Zamiriad

    Senior Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)

    Azadeh Zamirirad is a Senior Associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). She works in the Middle East and Africa Division, where she covers Iran´s foreign, security and domestic policy, including Iran´s nuclear program. She wrote her dissertational thesis on preference formation in Iranian nuclear diplomacy and currently teaches at the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) at the Philipps-University of Marburg.

    Senior Associate at the German Institute...

  • Emre Ersen

    Emre Ersen

    Associate professor at Marmara University

    Emre Erşen is an associate professor at the Marmara University Department of Political Science and International Relations. He completed his PhD at the same department. He has also conducted research at the Higher School of Economics (Russia), University of Kent (United Kingdom), Institute for Human Sciences (Austria) and Jagiellonian University (Poland) as a visiting scholar. His research interests include Russian foreign policy, Turkish-Russian relations, Eurasianism and geopolitics. He has contributed papers in international conferences and published articles in journals.

    Associate professor at Marmara Universit...

  • Mustafa Abushagur

    Mustafa Abushagur

    Member of the Libyan House of Representatives

    Dr. Mustafa A.G. Abushagur has been a member of the Libyan House of Representatives since 2014. He was the First Deputy Prime Minister of Libya from November 2011 to November 2012. He is also the founder and chairman of the Libyan Policy Institute, a think tank based in Tripoli, Libya. Dr. Abushagur holds a BSc degree from the University of Tripoli and MSc and PhD degrees from the California Institute of Technology, all in the field of electrical engineering.

    Member of the Libyan House of Representa...

  • Waddah Khanfar

    Waddah 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.

    President of the Al Sharq Forum

  • Hugh Lovatt

    Hugh Lovatt

    Israel/Palestine Project Coordinator for ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa Programme

    Hugh Lovatt is the Israel/Palestine Project Coordinator for ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Prior to this, he worked as a researcher for International Crisis Group and as a Schuman Fellow in the European Parliament focusing on Middle-East policy. He also worked for the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations as an Arabic translator, specialising in Muslim cultures and Islamic law

    Israel/Palestine Project Coordinator for...

  • Ahmet Okumuş

    Ahmet Okumuş

    Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Sehir University

    Ahmet Okumuş is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Istanbul Sehir University. Dr. Okumus received his PhD in political science from Sabanci University. Dr. Okumus is also currently the president of Bilim ve Sanat Vakfi (Foundation for Sciences and Arts). His research interests include contemporary political theory, democratic politics, religion, politics and secularism, theories of modernity and comparative political theory

    Assistant Professor of Political Science...

  • Joost Hiltermann

    Joost Hiltermann

    Middle East & North Africa Program Director, International Crisis Group

    Joost Hiltermann is Program Director, Middle East & North Africa, at the International Crisis Group, for which he has worked in various capacities since 2002. Before that, he was Executive Director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch (1994-2002) and database coordinator and research coordinator at the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq in Ramallah (1985-1990). He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

    Middle East & North Africa Program Direc...

  • Filippo Dionigi

    Filippo Dionigi

    Lecturer of politics and international relations at the University of Bristol

    Dr Filippo Dionigi is lecturer of politics and international relations at the University of Bristol. His research focuses on international relations theory applied to Middle Eastern politics. He is interested in international norms diffusion and Islamist movements and is currently working on a study of the effects of the Syrian refugee crisis on neighboring countries. Previously he has published Hezbollah, Islamist Politics, and International Society (2014) while his articles have been published in several journals.

    Lecturer of politics and international r...

  • Martin Rupiya

    Martin Rupiya

    Academic with the Institute for African Renaissance Studies

    Martin Rupiya is an academic with the Institute for African Renaissance Studies, University of South Africa. He is the executive director of the African Public Policy and Research Institute based in Pretoria, whose focus is on Africa’s post-2000 challenges in relation to the New Civil Military Relations, aimed at consolidating the African state. He has taught at various institutions including the University of Cranfield, UK; Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia and the University of Zimbabwe.

    Academic with the Institute for African ...

  • Gallip Dalay

    Gallip Dalay

    Research director at Al Sharq Forum

    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.

    Research director at Al Sharq Forum

  • MESUT ÖZCAN

    MESUT ÖZCAN

    Director of Diplomacy Academy of MFA

    Mesut Ozcan is currently the Director of Diplomacy Academy of MFA. He serves on the editorial boards of Insight Turkey, Divan and Perceptions journals. He previously lectured at Istanbul Ticaret University’s Department of International Relations and continues to teach at Istanbul Sehir University. Ozcan is the author of three books: Sorunlu Miras Irak (Istanbul: Küre, 2003), Harmonizing Foreign Policy: Turkey, the EU and the Middle East (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008), and Medeniyetler ve Dünya Düzen(ler)i, Mesut Özcan and Muzaffer Şenel (ed), (Istanbul: Klasik, 2010).

    Director of Diplomacy Academy of MFA

  • Garth le Pere

    Garth le Pere

    Professor of International Relations at the University of Pretoria

    Garth le Pere is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Pretoria and a Senior Associate of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection based in Johannesburg. Having served for 12 years, he is also the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Global Dialogue. His areas of interest and publications include international relations theory, multilateral trade and emerging markets

    Professor of International Relations at ...

  • Courtney Freer

    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.

    Research Officer at Kuwait Programme at ...

  • Payam Mohseni

    Payam Mohseni

    Lecturer at Harvard University

    Payam Mohseni is the director of the Iran Project and fellow for Iran studies at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is also a lecturer at Harvard University. Dr. Mohseni is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He focuses on Iranian foreign and domestic politics, Shi’a thought and identity, Islam and sectarian conflict in the Middle East, and the politics of authoritarianism and hybrid regimes.

    Lecturer at Harvard University

  • Adel Hamaizia

    Adel Hamaizia

    Researcher at the University of Oxford

    Adel Hamaizia is the committee vice-chairman of the Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum. Adel is a researcher at the University of Oxford, where he focuses on the Political Economy of the Middle East, and teaches Middle East Politics. He is also a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Department of Finance and Management Studies at SOAS, University of London.

    Researcher at the University of Oxford

  • ZEYNEP KOÇ

    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

    Research Fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Re...

  • Monica Marks

    Monica Marks

    Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations

    Monica Marks is a Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a Rhodes Scholar at St Antony’s College, Oxford, where she is completing her Ph.D. A leading analyst on Islamist politics in Tunisia. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed academic publications, think tanks including the Brookings Institute and Carnegie Endowment, and more popularly oriented publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, and Foreign Policy. Her research is currently supported by the IREMAM institute in Aix-en-Provence, France, where she is a Research Fellow. She is currently based in Istanbul and Tunisia, researching Islamist movements and MENA regional politics in Arabic, French, and Turkish.

    Visiting Fellow at the European Council ...

  • Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı

    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

    Director of GMF’s office in Ankara

  • Bayar Mustafa

    Bayar Mustafa

    Assistant Professor at the American University of Kurdistan (AUK)

    Bayar Mustafa is an Assistant Professor at the American University of Kurdistan (AUK). He has been working as an advisor at the International Middle East Peace Research Center (IMPR) since 2012. He also worked on the Turkey desk at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He obtained his PhD focusing on the Kurdish Question in American Policy toward Turkey 1991-1999 from Mosul University in Mosul, Iraq. He writes strategic analysis of Turkey-Kurdistan relation and U.S. and regional relations with the Kurdistan regional government.

    Assistant Professor at the American Univ...

  • Magdalena Kirchner

    Magdalena Kirchner

    Political scientist and conflict researcher

    Magdalena Kirchner, the Mercator-IPC Fellow at Sabanci University, is a political scientist and conflict researcher, specializing in transatlantic security and crisis management, third party interventions, and Turkey and the Levant. Prior to that, she taught at Heidelberg University and headed the Working Group "Conflicts in the Middle East and Maghreb" at the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research (HIIK). In the past years, she frequently advised German governmental institutions and Berlin-based embassies on challenges stemming from international terrorism.

    Political scientist and conflict researc...

  • Safaa Elhalouti

    Safaa Elhalouti

    MA candidate at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Politics and International Relations

    Safaa ElHalouti is an MA candidate at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Politics and International Relations. She is a member of the Junior Chamber International, previously the VP of the expats branch (Megapol) in Istanbul and a member of the Justice and Development Party in Morocco. Her research focuses on Security, American Foreign Policy, Middle East politics and Turkey.

    MA candidate at the Doha Institute for G...

  • Louy Al Khatib

    Louy Al Khatib

    Founding Director of the Iraq Energy Institute

    Luay al-Khatteeb is the Director of Iraq Energy, an independent policy institution, and a Fellow at Colombia’s Center on Global Energy Policy. He is a former Fellow at Brookings. Al-Khatteeb hold a PhD in political science from University of Exeter.

    Founding Director of the Iraq Energy Ins...

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Al Sharq Strategic Research is a think tank that looks to undertake impartial, rigorous research to promote the ideals of democratic participation, an informed citizenry, multi-stakeholder dialogue and social justice.

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