Contributors

Cody Retherford joined the American Foreign Policy Council as a Junior Fellow in May 2020. He has conducted research on counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and state proxy, cyber, and information operations and strategy. He also has a background in market research and geopolitical risk analysis. Cody holds a BA in International Affairs and Middle East Studies. He is currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) pursuing an MA in International Economics and International Affairs. Prior to attending SAIS, Cody served as a US Army Officer on active duty for 5 years in light infantry and special operations organizations. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and Operation Resolute Support. He has also supported combat operations against terror groups across the Middle East.

Javid Ahmad is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and a senior intelligence manager at iJET International, a risk management firm, where he manages a fifteen-member team of intelligence analysts and provides analytical content and assessments to business and government clients. He is also a senior policy adviser to Afghanistan's minister of finance, focusing on devising policies and strategies on anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing issues. Additionally, he is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he researches and publishes on pressing security and counterterrorism issues in South Asia.

Previously, Javid worked on South Asia supporting the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program and the US Naval Postgraduate School. He also worked as a program coordinator for Asia for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, he has worked for the NATO HQ in Brussels, the Voice of America, and the Afghan embassy in Washington. He has also worked on governance issues for organizations in Kabul. Javid’s writing has appeared, inter alia, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Daily Beast. He has a BA in international relations from Beloit College and an MA in security studies from Yale University.

Javid Ahmad is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and a senior intelligence manager at iJET International, a risk management firm, where he manages a fifteen-member team of intelligence analysts and provides analytical content and assessments to business and government clients. He is also a senior policy adviser to Afghanistan's minister of finance, focusing on devising policies and strategies on anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing issues. Additionally, he is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he researches and publishes on pressing security and counterterrorism issues in South Asia.

Previously, Javid worked on South Asia supporting the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program and the US Naval Postgraduate School. He also worked as a program coordinator for Asia for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, he has worked for the NATO HQ in Brussels, the Voice of America, and the Afghan embassy in Washington. He has also worked on governance issues for organizations in Kabul. Javid’s writing has appeared, inter alia, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Daily Beast. He has a BA in international relations from Beloit College and an MA in security studies from Yale University.

Javid Ahmad is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and a senior intelligence manager at iJET International, a risk management firm, where he manages a fifteen-member team of intelligence analysts and provides analytical content and assessments to business and government clients. He is also a senior policy adviser to Afghanistan's minister of finance, focusing on devising policies and strategies on anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing issues. Additionally, he is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he researches and publishes on pressing security and counterterrorism issues in South Asia.

Previously, Javid worked on South Asia supporting the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program and the US Naval Postgraduate School. He also worked as a program coordinator for Asia for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, he has worked for the NATO HQ in Brussels, the Voice of America, and the Afghan embassy in Washington. He has also worked on governance issues for organizations in Kabul. Javid’s writing has appeared, inter alia, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Daily Beast. He has a BA in international relations from Beloit College and an MA in security studies from Yale University.

Will Goodyear is the Gulf Research Associate and Special Researcher for the Director at the Near East-South Asia Center at the National Defense University. His research interests include Environmental and Natural Resource Security, International Aid and Development, Islamist Politics, and the Modern History of the Arab World.

Dr. Williams is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. His fields of teaching and research include conflict in contemporary Islamic Eurasia, and nationalism and Identity in the Caucasus/Central Asia.

David Cook is associate professor of religious studies at Rice University specializing in Islam. He did his undergraduate degrees at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2001. His areas of specialization include early Islamic history and development, Muslim apocalyptic literature and movements (classical and contemporary), radical Islam, historical astronomy and Judeo-Arabic literature. His first book, Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, was published by Darwin Press in the series Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam. Two further books, Understanding Jihad (Berkeley: University of California Press) and Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press) were published during 2005, and Martyrdom in Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2007) as well as Understanding and Addressing Suicide Attacks (with Olivia Allison, Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security Press, 2007) have been completed recently. Cook is continuing to work on contemporary Muslim apocalyptic literature, with a focus upon Shi`ite materials, as well as preparing manuscripts on jihadi groups and Western African Muslim history.


B.A. Hebrew University (1994)
Ph.D. University of Chicago (2001)

Javid Ahmad is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and a senior intelligence manager at iJET International, a risk management firm, where he manages a fifteen-member team of intelligence analysts and provides analytical content and assessments to business and government clients. He is also a senior policy adviser to Afghanistan's minister of finance, focusing on devising policies and strategies on anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing issues. Additionally, he is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he researches and publishes on pressing security and counterterrorism issues in South Asia.

Previously, Javid worked on South Asia supporting the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program and the US Naval Postgraduate School. He also worked as a program coordinator for Asia for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, he has worked for the NATO HQ in Brussels, the Voice of America, and the Afghan embassy in Washington. He has also worked on governance issues for organizations in Kabul. Javid’s writing has appeared, inter alia, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Daily Beast. He has a BA in international relations from Beloit College and an MA in security studies from Yale University.

Kyle Orton is an independent researcher focused on the Syrian war and related terrorist groups. His work has been published in various outlets, including Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He obtained his masters in social science from Liverpool University, completing his thesis on the conditions of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and previously worked at a London think tank.

Katherine Zimmerman is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the research manager for AEI’s Critical Threats Project. As the senior analyst on al Qaeda, she studies how the terrorist network operates globally. Her work is also focused on al Qaeda’s affiliates in the Gulf of Aden region and in western and northern Africa. She specializes in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based al Qaeda faction, and in al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia.

Ms. Zimmerman has testified before Congress about the threats to US national security interests emanating from al Qaeda and its network. She has also briefed members of Congress, their staff, and members of the defense community. Her analyses have been widely published, including in CNN.com, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

She graduated with distinction from Yale University with a B.A. in political science and modern Middle East studies.

Katherine Zimmerman is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the research manager for AEI’s Critical Threats Project. As the senior analyst on al Qaeda, she studies how the terrorist network operates globally. Her work is also focused on al Qaeda’s affiliates in the Gulf of Aden region and in western and northern Africa. She specializes in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based al Qaeda faction, and in al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia.

Ms. Zimmerman has testified before Congress about the threats to US national security interests emanating from al Qaeda and its network. She has also briefed members of Congress, their staff, and members of the defense community. Her analyses have been widely published, including in CNN.com, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

She graduated with distinction from Yale University with a B.A. in political science and modern Middle East studies.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. His professional focus is on understanding how violent non-state actors (VNSAs) are transforming the world, and how states are in turn trying to adapt to this challenge. Gartenstein-Ross has specialized in jihadist movements, including undertaking detailed research into al-Qaeda, the Islamic State (ISIS), Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, Boko Haram, and ISIS’s Wilayat Sinai. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Valens Global, a consulting firm focused on the challenges posed by VNSAs, as well as a Fellow with Google’s Jigsaw, an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. His professional focus is on understanding how violent non-state actors (VNSAs) are transforming the world, and how states are in turn trying to adapt to this challenge. Gartenstein-Ross has specialized in jihadist movements, including undertaking detailed research into al-Qaeda, the Islamic State (ISIS), Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, Boko Haram, and ISIS’s Wilayat Sinai. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Valens Global, a consulting firm focused on the challenges posed by VNSAs, as well as a Fellow with Google’s Jigsaw, an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program.

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Jared Swanson is a Research Associate at the American Foreign Policy Council. He provides research support for AFPC initiatives and develops quantitative tools and methods to assist with analysis. His research interests include U.S. strategic priorities and development programs in Africa and the Middle East. He has published writings on the Middle East and South Asian Maritime Security issues. Swanson is a graduate of the University of Oregon.

Raymond Ibrahim is associate director of the Middle East Forum, author of The Al Qaeda Reader (Doubleday, 2007), and deputy publisher of The Middle East Quarterly. A widely published author on Islam, he regularly discusses that topic with the media, including Fox News, C-SPAN, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, NPR, CBN, and PBS. Mr. Ibrahim guest-lectures at the National Defense Intelligence College (Washington, D.C.), briefs governmental agencies (such as U.S. Strategic Command), provides expert testimony for Islam related lawsuits, and has testified before Congress regarding the conceptual failures that dominate American discourse concerning Islam. He began his career as a reference assistant at the Library of Congress’ Near East Section.

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Yahia H. Zoubir is Professor of International Studies and Director of Research in Geopolitics at KEDGE Business School, France. Prior to joining KEDGE in September 2005, he taught in the United States. He has been Visiting Faculty in various universities in the China, Europe, the United States, and India, His numerous publications include books, such as North African Politics: Change and Continuity (Routledge, 2016); Global Security Watch—The Maghreb: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia (ABC/CLIO, 2013); North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation (Routledge, 2008) and articles in scholarly journals, such as Third World Quarterly, Mediterranean Politics, International Affairs, Journal of North African Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, etc.. He has also contributed many book chapters and various entries in encyclopedias. He is currently collaborating on the Project on Rivalries in the Middle East & North Africa and another on Sahel Security and the Mediterranean.

Yahia H. Zoubir is Professor of International Studies and Director of Research in Geopolitics at KEDGE Business School, France. Prior to joining KEDGE in September 2005, he taught in the United States. He has been Visiting Faculty in various universities in the China, Europe, the United States, and India, His numerous publications include books, such as North African Politics: Change and Continuity (Routledge, 2016); Global Security Watch—The Maghreb: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia (ABC/CLIO, 2013); North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation (Routledge, 2008) and articles in scholarly journals, such as Third World Quarterly, Mediterranean Politics, International Affairs, Journal of North African Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, etc.. He has also contributed many book chapters and various entries in encyclopedias. He is currently collaborating on the Project on Rivalries in the Middle East & North Africa and another on Sahel Security and the Mediterranean.

Yahia H. Zoubir is Professor of International Studies and Director of Research in Geopolitics at KEDGE Business School, France. Prior to joining KEDGE in September 2005, he taught in the United States. He has been Visiting Faculty in various universities in the China, Europe, the United States, and India, His numerous publications include books, such as North African Politics: Change and Continuity (Routledge, 2016); Global Security Watch—The Maghreb: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia (ABC/CLIO, 2013); North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation (Routledge, 2008) and articles in scholarly journals, such as Third World Quarterly, Mediterranean Politics, International Affairs, Journal of North African Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, etc.. He has also contributed many book chapters and various entries in encyclopedias. He is currently collaborating on the Project on Rivalries in the Middle East & North Africa and another on Sahel Security and the Mediterranean.

Yahia H. Zoubir is Professor of International Studies and Director of Research in Geopolitics at KEDGE Business School, France. Prior to joining KEDGE in September 2005, he taught in the United States. He has been Visiting Faculty in various universities in the China, Europe, the United States, and India, His numerous publications include books, such as North African Politics: Change and Continuity (Routledge, 2016); Global Security Watch—The Maghreb: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia (ABC/CLIO, 2013); North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation (Routledge, 2008) and articles in scholarly journals, such as Third World Quarterly, Mediterranean Politics, International Affairs, Journal of North African Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, etc.. He has also contributed many book chapters and various entries in encyclopedias. He is currently collaborating on the Project on Rivalries in the Middle East & North Africa and another on Sahel Security and the Mediterranean.

Yahia H. Zoubir is Professor of International Studies and Director of Research in Geopolitics at KEDGE Business School, France. Prior to joining KEDGE in September 2005, he taught in the United States. He has been Visiting Faculty in various universities in the China, Europe, the United States, and India, His numerous publications include books, such as North African Politics: Change and Continuity (Routledge, 2016); Global Security Watch—The Maghreb: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia (ABC/CLIO, 2013); North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation (Routledge, 2008) and articles in scholarly journals, such as Third World Quarterly, Mediterranean Politics, International Affairs, Journal of North African Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, etc.. He has also contributed many book chapters and various entries in encyclopedias. He is currently collaborating on the Project on Rivalries in the Middle East & North Africa and another on Sahel Security and the Mediterranean.

David A. Grantham, Ph.D., is a leading expert in national security matters and international affairs. Dr. Grantham currently serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow for the George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security where he works on projects related to terrorism and the influence of Middle East actors in Latin America. Prior to his work with GW, Dr. Grantham served as Senior Fellow of National Security at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) where he published work on issues, ranging from defense spending and infrastructure protection to terrorist finance and regional security strategies. Dr. Grantham also served as an officer in the United States Air Force and as a Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). Dr. Grantham holds a PhD in Modern History from Texas Christian University where he taught courses on Latin America and Middle East history. He earned his Master of Science in International Relations from Troy University and Bachelor of Art in History from University of South Florida in 2004.

David A. Grantham, Ph.D., is a leading expert in national security matters and international affairs. Dr. Grantham currently serves as a non-resident Senior Fellow for the George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security where he works on projects related to terrorism and the influence of Middle East actors in Latin America. Prior to his work with GW, Dr. Grantham served as Senior Fellow of National Security at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) where he published work on issues, ranging from defense spending and infrastructure protection to terrorist finance and regional security strategies. Dr. Grantham also served as an officer in the United States Air Force and as a Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). Dr. Grantham holds a PhD in Modern History from Texas Christian University where he taught courses on Latin America and Middle East history. He earned his Master of Science in International Relations from Troy University and Bachelor of Art in History from University of South Florida in 2004.

Rachel is a Program Manager at the Center for a Secure and Free Society (SFS). She first joined SFS in 2014 as an undergraduate intern in the Fund for American Studies Institute on Economics and International Affairs program. As an intern, Rachel worked on translation of policy reports and op-eds on Latin American politics and the production of the 2014 book “Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America."

Following her internship at SFS, Rachel worked with the US Consulate in Guadalajara, MX as an intern in the US Department of State’s Virtual Student Foreign Service Program, researching economic and political data in Mexico and creating reports for the consulate. In 2015, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and Linguistics, and was awarded the Senior Recognition Award for Service to the Department by the USC Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Rachel continues to work as a translator with Latin American investigative journalists and contributed to research on the 2016 special report “After Nisman: How the death of a prosecutor revealed Iran’s growing influence in the Americas” by SFS Executive Director Joseph Humire.

Rachel has been certified by the Spanish government as fluent in Spanish at the B2 level, and has lived and worked in Spain and Mexico.

Michael Sobolik joined AFPC as a Fellow in Indo-Pacific Studies in September 2019. His work covers American and Chinese grand strategy, regional economic and security trends, America’s alliance architecture in Asia, and human rights. Michael also serves as editor of AFPC’s Indo-Pacific Monitor e-bulletin, AFPC’s review of developments in the region. His analysis has appeared in The Diplomat, The Hill, The National Interest, National Review, Newsweek, and Providence.

Prior to joining AFPC, Michael served as a Legislative Assistant to Sen. Ted Cruz from 2014 to 2019 and managed his Indo-Pacific policy portfolio. While in the Senate, Michael drafted legislation on China, Russia, India, Taiwan, North Korea, and Cambodia, as well as strategic systems and missile defense.

Michael is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where he studied political philosophy as an undergraduate. He also earned his Master of International Affairs degree in American grand strategy and U.S.-China relations at the Bush School of Government and Public Service.

Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman is the Coordinator of the Malaysia Program and a Research Associate with Contemporary Islam Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include the domestic and international politics of Southeast and South Asian countries, transnational Islamic political movements and counter-radicalization. Nawab has written various papers, books and journal articles relating to his research interests. Some of these articles have been featured in prominent journals such as Southeast Asia Research, South Asia, Pacific Review, Studies and Conflict in Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Indonesia and the Malay World. Several of his articles have been featured in leading dailies such as The Straits Times, India Express, The Nation (Thailand), Jakarta Post, Manila Times and Today’s Zaman (Turkey). Nawab is also a social activist and serves as the Vice-President of the Professional Expatriate Network of Singapore. He also sits in the boards of Association of Muslim Professionals, Jamiyah Singapore and Forum for Islamic and Democracy in Southeast Asia. As a former student activist, he served as President of National University of Singapore.

Yahia H. Zoubir is Professor of International Studies and Director of Research in Geopolitics at KEDGE Business School, France. Prior to joining KEDGE in September 2005, he taught in the United States. He has been Visiting Faculty in various universities in the China, Europe, the United States, and India, His numerous publications include books, such as North African Politics: Change and Continuity (Routledge, 2016); Global Security Watch—The Maghreb: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia (ABC/CLIO, 2013); North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation (Routledge, 2008) and articles in scholarly journals, such as Third World Quarterly, Mediterranean Politics, International Affairs, Journal of North African Studies, Middle East Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, etc.. He has also contributed many book chapters and various entries in encyclopedias. He is currently collaborating on the Project on Rivalries in the Middle East & North Africa and another on Sahel Security and the Mediterranean.

Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman is the Coordinator of the Malaysia Program and a Research Associate with Contemporary Islam Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include the domestic and international politics of Southeast and South Asian countries, transnational Islamic political movements and counter-radicalization. Nawab has written various papers, books and journal articles relating to his research interests. Some of these articles have been featured in prominent journals such as Southeast Asia Research, South Asia, Pacific Review, Studies and Conflict in Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Indonesia and the Malay World. Several of his articles have been featured in leading dailies such as The Straits Times, India Express, The Nation (Thailand), Jakarta Post, Manila Times and Today’s Zaman (Turkey). Nawab is also a social activist and serves as the Vice-President of the Professional Expatriate Network of Singapore. He also sits in the boards of Association of Muslim Professionals, Jamiyah Singapore and Forum for Islamic and Democracy in Southeast Asia. As a former student activist, he served as President of National University of Singapore.

Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman is the Coordinator of the Malaysia Program and a Research Associate with Contemporary Islam Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests include the domestic and international politics of Southeast and South Asian countries, transnational Islamic political movements and counter-radicalization. Nawab has written various papers, books and journal articles relating to his research interests. Some of these articles have been featured in prominent journals such as Southeast Asia Research, South Asia, Pacific Review, Studies and Conflict in Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Indonesia and the Malay World. Several of his articles have been featured in leading dailies such as The Straits Times, India Express, The Nation (Thailand), Jakarta Post, Manila Times and Today’s Zaman (Turkey). Nawab is also a social activist and serves as the Vice-President of the Professional Expatriate Network of Singapore. He also sits in the boards of Association of Muslim Professionals, Jamiyah Singapore and Forum for Islamic and Democracy in Southeast Asia. As a former student activist, he served as President of National University of Singapore.

Ariel Cohen is a Senior Research Fellow at The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He received his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Dr. Cohen is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, and Association for the Study of Nationalities. His research interests include the economic development and political reform in the former Soviet Republics, and continuing conflicts in the Middle East. He has on multiple occasions testified on Russian and Eurasian politics, economics, and law before the U.S. Congress. Dr. Cohen has also published numerous pieces of writing.

Courtney Freer is an assistant professorial research fellow at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is the author of Rentier Islamism: The Role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf Monarchies (Oxford University Press, 2018), the first English language book focused on the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf states and specializes in domestic politics and foreign policies of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Donal Radlauer is the foremost expert on the demographics of the victims from the phase of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict that began in September of 2000. He is an Associate of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) where he has published and lectured extensively on topics relating to terror finance, counter-terrorism, casualty statistics, asymmetric conflict, and radicalization via “virtual communities.” Mr. Radlauer is the Lead Researcher for the ICT’s “Al-Aqsa Intifada” Database Project where he developed the project’s technological infrastructure and wrote the projects findings in the study “An Engineered Tragedy.” Mr. Radlauer studied History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a director and co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Asymmetric Conflict.

Donal Radlauer is the foremost expert on the demographics of the victims from the phase of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict that began in September of 2000. He is an Associate of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) where he has published and lectured extensively on topics relating to terror finance, counter-terrorism, casualty statistics, asymmetric conflict, and radicalization via “virtual communities.” Mr. Radlauer is the Lead Researcher for the ICT’s “Al-Aqsa Intifada” Database Project where he developed the project’s technological infrastructure and wrote the projects findings in the study “An Engineered Tragedy.” Mr. Radlauer studied History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a director and co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Asymmetric Conflict.

Donal Radlauer is the foremost expert on the demographics of the victims from the phase of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict that began in September of 2000. He is an Associate of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) where he has published and lectured extensively on topics relating to terror finance, counter-terrorism, casualty statistics, asymmetric conflict, and radicalization via “virtual communities.” Mr. Radlauer is the Lead Researcher for the ICT’s “Al-Aqsa Intifada” Database Project where he developed the project’s technological infrastructure and wrote the projects findings in the study “An Engineered Tragedy.” Mr. Radlauer studied History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a director and co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Asymmetric Conflict.

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Zaglul Haider is a professor of Political Science at the University of Rajshahi. He received his PhD in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A and did an LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada. Dr. Haider has published a good number of articles in European, North American and South Asian academic journals. His articles appeared in The Security Dialogue, Asian Survey, The Round Table, African and Asian Studies, Asian and African Studies, South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Profile and Regional Studies. Dr. Haider's book, The Changing Pattern of Bangladesh Foreign Policy: A Comparative Study of the Mujib and Zia Regimes, was published by the University Press Limited in 2006.

Zaglul Haider is a professor of Political Science at the University of Rajshahi. He received his PhD in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A and did an LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada. Dr. Haider has published a good number of articles in European, North American and South Asian academic journals. His articles appeared in The Security Dialogue, Asian Survey, The Round Table, African and Asian Studies, Asian and African Studies, South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Profile and Regional Studies. Dr. Haider's book, The Changing Pattern of Bangladesh Foreign Policy: A Comparative Study of the Mujib and Zia Regimes, was published by the University Press Limited in 2006.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Douglas Farah is president of IBI Consultants LLC and a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. For twenty years, he was a foreign correspondent and investigative reporter at the Washington Post, where he won numerous awards for his work. In addition to his national security consulting work he is a regular lecturer at universities, government agencies and foreign policy groups. He has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, has written two books and numerous articles and monographs.

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

Nathalia Watkins works at Dataminr, where she monitors, track and analyzes political, economic and security developments for a number of clients at one of the world’s leading businesses in AI and Machine Learning innovation. Nathalia Watkins holds a Master of Arts in International Public Policy with a concentration in Global Risk Analysis and Latin America. Nathalia worked as a foreign affairs journalist at Veja magazine, the largest weekly in Brazil, covering major international political events. Nathalia has also worked for outlets like Exame, Estado de S. Paulo, TV Bandeirantes, and RFI. Internationally, Nathalia worked at Reuters in Jerusalem and at Yedioth Aharonot, Israel's largest newspaper. She has received numerous awards for her work.

Nathalia was a research fellow at Eurasia Group, the world’s leading political risk consultancy, where she assisted the Latin America team in assessing the impact of policy decisions on the business environment.

Nathalia graduated from the Pontificia Universidade Catolica (PUC-RJ) in 2005 with a BA in Journalism and from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2009 with an MA in International Relations with focus on conflict resolution.

Leonardo Coutinho is a Brazilian journalist currently serving as foreign correspondent in Washington, D.C. for VEJA magazine. He has published several articles about corruption, drug trafficking, and transnational organized crime, as well as revelations about the nuclear connections between Iran, Venezuela and Argentina. Coutinho was also the first to publish official documents that provided evidence that Iranian cleric Mohsen Rabbani --named by the Argentine Judiciary as one of the architects of the 1994 AMIA attack--had secretly visited Brazil. In 2016, his reporting revealed the identities of the members of ISIS’s terror affiliate in Brazil as part of “Operation Hashtag.” A six-time winner of the Journalist Award from Grupo Abril, Mr. Coutinho is author the book “Hugo Chávez, o espectro” (Portuguese edition) and has contributed to the book “Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America,” by Lexington Books and testified before both the U.S Congress and Brazilian Parliament.

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

Micah Levinson is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. Trained in government and political economy, he earned a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He also holds a certificate in counterterrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. Micah's research focuses on revolutionary groups and the stability of authoritarian regimes, and he has published on these topics in Politics, Philosophy & Economics and has contributed to The Political Economy of Democracy and Tyranny, edited by Norman Schofield.

Candice Malcolm is a best-selling author, a nationally syndicated columnist with the Toronto Sun and Postmedia papers, and an international fellow with the Centre for a Secure Free Society in Washington, D.C. She is the founder of the True North Initiative – an independent, non-profit research and educational organization in Canada that seeks to champion sound immigration and security policies for the 21st century. Candice is the author of two best-selling books, Generation Screwed and Losing True North. She is a former advisor to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the former director of research at Sun News Network, and the former Director of the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation in Ontario.

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Candice is a ninth generation Canadian and loves to travel; she has visited over 80 countries. Candice has master’s degrees in international relations and international law, and splits her time between Toronto and San Francisco, with her husband Kasra.

Candice Malcolm is a best-selling author, a nationally syndicated columnist with the Toronto Sun and Postmedia papers, and an international fellow with the Centre for a Secure Free Society in Washington, D.C. She is the founder of the True North Initiative – an independent, non-profit research and educational organization in Canada that seeks to champion sound immigration and security policies for the 21st century. Candice is the author of two best-selling books, Generation Screwed and Losing True North. She is a former advisor to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the former director of research at Sun News Network, and the former Director of the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation in Ontario.

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Candice is a ninth generation Canadian and loves to travel; she has visited over 80 countries. Candice has master’s degrees in international relations and international law, and splits her time between Toronto and San Francisco, with her husband Kasra.

Candice Malcolm is a best-selling author, a nationally syndicated columnist with the Toronto Sun and Postmedia papers, and an international fellow with the Centre for a Secure Free Society in Washington, D.C. She is the founder of the True North Initiative – an independent, non-profit research and educational organization in Canada that seeks to champion sound immigration and security policies for the 21st century. Candice is the author of two best-selling books, Generation Screwed and Losing True North. She is a former advisor to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the former director of research at Sun News Network, and the former Director of the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation in Ontario.

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Candice is a ninth generation Canadian and loves to travel; she has visited over 80 countries. Candice has master’s degrees in international relations and international law, and splits her time between Toronto and San Francisco, with her husband Kasra.

Diane Cardon is a master's student at George Washington University studying International Affairs with a focus on China. She recieved her batchelor's degree in linguistics from Brigham Young University in 2014 then lived in Taiwan for a year and a half before coming to DC for graduate school. She is especially interested in Chinese domestic politics, Chinese treatment of ethnic minorities, China-Taiwan relations, and China-Japan relations.

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Joshua Eisenman is Senior Fellow in China Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council. A former professional policy analyst on the staff of the Congressionally-mandated U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, he is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the political science department at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Eisenman received his MA in International Relations with specializations in China studies and international economics at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA in East Asian Studies and Chinese language from The George Washington University. He speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese.

Kirstine Sinclair is Associate Professor (PhD) at the Centre for Contemporary Middle East Studies, Department of History, University of Southern Denmark. Her theoretical interests involve modernity theory, social movement theory, place, space and the sensory turn. Empirically, her work focuses on Muslim minorities in the West, as well as on transnational Muslim organisations and Islamism.

Manni Crone is a Danish translator and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and the DEA from l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales . She has translated, among other works, Boris Vian and Francis Picabia from French to Danish together with Asger Schnack. She is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, where she conducts research in Islam, securlarism, and religious influence on policy formation.

Manni Crone is a Danish translator and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and the DEA from l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales . She has translated, among other works, Boris Vian and Francis Picabia from French to Danish together with Asger Schnack. She is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, where she conducts research in Islam, securlarism, and religious influence on policy formation.

Manni Crone is a Danish translator and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and the DEA from l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales . She has translated, among other works, Boris Vian and Francis Picabia from French to Danish together with Asger Schnack. She is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, where she conducts research in Islam, securlarism, and religious influence on policy formation.

Manni Crone is a Danish translator and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and the DEA from l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales . She has translated, among other works, Boris Vian and Francis Picabia from French to Danish together with Asger Schnack. She is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, where she conducts research in Islam, securlarism, and religious influence on policy formation.

Dr. Ofir Winter, a research fellow at INSS, holds a PhD from the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University. His doctoral research focused on Egypt and Jordan's quest to legitimize their peace treaties with Israel between the years 1973-2001. He is the author of the book Zionism in Arab Discourses (Manchester University Press, 2016, with Uriya Shavit), and the author of several articles on the politics of Egypt, the Arab-Israeli conflict, church and state in the Arab world, and contemporary Muslim law.

Eric Trager, the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute, is an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts and returns frequently to conduct firsthand interviews with leaders in Egypt's government, military, political parties, media, and civil society. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, and the New Republic.

Trager is the author of Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days (Georgetown University Press, 2016) which chronicles the precipitous rise to power of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, culminating in the election of President Mohamed Morsi in 2012, and its sudden demise just a year later. The book also assesses the current state of Egyptian politics and the prospects for a reemergence of the Brotherhood.

Dr. Trager has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on Egyptian opposition parties. From 2006-2007, he lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his M.A. in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew.

Eric Trager, the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute, is an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts and returns frequently to conduct firsthand interviews with leaders in Egypt's government, military, political parties, media, and civil society. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, and the New Republic.

Trager is the author of Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days (Georgetown University Press, 2016) which chronicles the precipitous rise to power of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, culminating in the election of President Mohamed Morsi in 2012, and its sudden demise just a year later. The book also assesses the current state of Egyptian politics and the prospects for a reemergence of the Brotherhood.

Dr. Trager has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on Egyptian opposition parties. From 2006-2007, he lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his M.A. in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew.

Eric Trager, the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute, is an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts and returns frequently to conduct firsthand interviews with leaders in Egypt's government, military, political parties, media, and civil society. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, and the New Republic.

Trager is the author of Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days (Georgetown University Press, 2016) which chronicles the precipitous rise to power of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, culminating in the election of President Mohamed Morsi in 2012, and its sudden demise just a year later. The book also assesses the current state of Egyptian politics and the prospects for a reemergence of the Brotherhood.

Dr. Trager has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on Egyptian opposition parties. From 2006-2007, he lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his M.A. in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew.

Alexander Brock is a JD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, school of law, and is also the translation reviewer for National Geographic Magazine's Arabic edition. He previously worked as a research associate for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. He is a former Fulbright Scholar to Cairo, Egypt, where he conducted research on Islamic philosophy at Cairo University. He received his BA in Philosophy with a minor in Arabic from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

Gareth Jenkins is a British national who has been living and working in Istanbul since 1989. He is currently a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, a transatlantic research and policy initiative between the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington and the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. He is also a Country of Origin Information (COI) expert for the International Refugee Rights Initiative in Oxford, United Kingdom, and a Consulting Fellow with the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom.

During his first ten years in Turkey, Gareth Jenkins worked primarily as a journalist for international wire services, newspapers and periodicals, covering a range of political, economic and social issues related to Turkey and the surrounding region. Amongst others, he has written for Reuters, Time magazine, Newsweek, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the International Herald Tribune, Bridge News, the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, the European, the Financial Times, Global Agribusiness, Farm Journal magazine, Doing Business in Turkey, Jane’s Intelligence Review, International Affairs, Al Ahram Weekly, Turkey Analyst, Eurasia Daily Monitor, Survival, Strategic Comment, Strategic Survey, Turkey Analyst, Foreign Report and National Geographic.

Although he has continued to write and provide commentaries for the international media on various aspects of Turkish politics and economics, over the last 15 years Gareth Jenkins has increasingly concentrated on consulting, analysis and research related to Turkey and its region. During this time, he has provided services to a wide range of companies, professional bodies, governmental institutions and international organizations in numerous fields, including political analysis, risk analysis, security issues and the business environment.

His main fields of expertise are: Turkish domestic politics, security issues, civil-military relations, the Kurdish issue, political Islam, foreign policy, social change, economics and the business environment.

His publications include:

• Context and Circumstance: The Turkish Military and Politics (Oxford: OUP, 2001).
• Political Islam in Turkey: Running West, Heading East? (New York: Palgrave, 2008).
• Between Fact and Fantasy: Turkey’s Ergenekon Investigation (Silk Road Paper, August 2009).
• Occasional Allies, Enduring Rivals: Turkey’s Relations with Iran (Silk Road Paper, May 2012).
• Turkey: A Modern History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018).
• The PKK Insurgency (London: Routledge, 2018).

Gareth Jenkins is a British national who has been living and working in Istanbul since 1989. He is currently a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, a transatlantic research and policy initiative between the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington and the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. He is also a Country of Origin Information (COI) expert for the International Refugee Rights Initiative in Oxford, United Kingdom, and a Consulting Fellow with the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom.

During his first ten years in Turkey, Gareth Jenkins worked primarily as a journalist for international wire services, newspapers and periodicals, covering a range of political, economic and social issues related to Turkey and the surrounding region. Amongst others, he has written for Reuters, Time magazine, Newsweek, the Economist Intelligence Unit, the International Herald Tribune, Bridge News, the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, the European, the Financial Times, Global Agribusiness, Farm Journal magazine, Doing Business in Turkey, Jane’s Intelligence Review, International Affairs, Al Ahram Weekly, Turkey Analyst, Eurasia Daily Monitor, Survival, Strategic Comment, Strategic Survey, Turkey Analyst, Foreign Report and National Geographic.

Although he has continued to write and provide commentaries for the international media on various aspects of Turkish politics and economics, over the last 15 years Gareth Jenkins has increasingly concentrated on consulting, analysis and research related to Turkey and its region. During this time, he has provided services to a wide range of companies, professional bodies, governmental institutions and international organizations in numerous fields, including political analysis, risk analysis, security issues and the business environment.

His main fields of expertise are: Turkish domestic politics, security issues, civil-military relations, the Kurdish issue, political Islam, foreign policy, social change, economics and the business environment.

His publications include:

• Context and Circumstance: The Turkish Military and Politics (Oxford: OUP, 2001).
• Political Islam in Turkey: Running West, Heading East? (New York: Palgrave, 2008).
• Between Fact and Fantasy: Turkey’s Ergenekon Investigation (Silk Road Paper, August 2009).
• Occasional Allies, Enduring Rivals: Turkey’s Relations with Iran (Silk Road Paper, May 2012).
• Turkey: A Modern History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018).
• The PKK Insurgency (London: Routledge, 2018).

Claire Berlinski joined AFPC as the Senior Fellow for Turkey in March 2012. Ms. Berlinski is a City Journal contributing editor, a freelance investigative journalist, traveler writer, biographer, and novelist who lives in Istanbul. She is the author of Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis is America's, Too, and There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters.

Her journalism has been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, First Post, the Oxford International Review, The American, Asia Times, the Globe and Mail, the New York Sun, The Weekly Standard, National Review, Policy Review, Radio Free Europe, World Affairs Journal, among others. She is also author of two spy novels and frequent guest on local and international radio talk shows.

Claire Berlinski joined AFPC as the Senior Fellow for Turkey in March 2012. Ms. Berlinski is a City Journal contributing editor, a freelance investigative journalist, traveler writer, biographer, and novelist who lives in Istanbul. She is the author of Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis is America's, Too, and There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters.

Her journalism has been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, First Post, the Oxford International Review, The American, Asia Times, the Globe and Mail, the New York Sun, The Weekly Standard, National Review, Policy Review, Radio Free Europe, World Affairs Journal, among others. She is also author of two spy novels and frequent guest on local and international radio talk shows.

Lisa Aronson Wein is former Senior Analyst at CEB and a recent graduate of the masters program Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) where she specialized in European Studies and International Economics. While attending SAIS she worked at Frontier Strategy Group, a research and advisory firm that serves executives looking to expand into emerging markets, and the United States Department of Commerce Office of Trade Negotiations and Analysis. She has also held positions at the Population Reference Bureau and the American Foreign Policy Council. She received her Bachelors degree from the University of Florida.

Russell A. Berman is the Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. His areas of specialization include modern European culture, trans-Atlantic relations, anti-Americanism and terrorism. Recent publications include Fiction Sets You Free: Literature, Liberty and Western Culture (Lincoln: University of Iowa Press, 2007), Anti-Americanism in Europe: A Cultural Problem (Stanford: Hoover Press, 2008) and Freedom or Terror: Europe Faces Jihad (Stanford: Hoover Press, 2010).

AFPC thanks our anonymous authors for their generous contributions to the World Almanac of Islamism.

AFPC thanks our anonymous authors for their generous contributions to the World Almanac of Islamism.

Jonathan Laurence is Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Nonresident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy studies at the Brookings Institution (Washington, DC). He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an affiliate of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in 2006.

Doug Dubrowski is a former researcher with the American Foreign Policy Council.

Doug Dubrowski is a former researcher with the American Foreign Policy Council.

Benjamin Weinthal is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. A widely published journalist based in Berlin, he serves as FDD's eyes and ears in Europe. Benjamin’s investigative reporting has uncovered valuable information on Iran’s energy links to European firms, as well as Hamas and Hezbollah’s terror-finance operations in Europe. He has also examined the growth of the Islamic State in Europe, growing anti-Semitism on the Continent, and neo-Nazism.

Benjamin’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal Europe, Slate, The Guardian, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, National Review Online, the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post, and broadcast outlets including the BBC and Fox News. A fluent German speaker, Benjamin has also written columns and articles in the German newspapers Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Morgenpost and Der Tagesspiegel.

Benjamin Weinthal is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. A widely published journalist based in Berlin, he serves as FDD's eyes and ears in Europe. Benjamin’s investigative reporting has uncovered valuable information on Iran’s energy links to European firms, as well as Hamas and Hezbollah’s terror-finance operations in Europe. He has also examined the growth of the Islamic State in Europe, growing anti-Semitism on the Continent, and neo-Nazism.

Benjamin’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal Europe, Slate, The Guardian, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, National Review Online, the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post, and broadcast outlets including the BBC and Fox News. A fluent German speaker, Benjamin has also written columns and articles in the German newspapers Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Morgenpost and Der Tagesspiegel.

Dr. Clemens Heni is the Director of the Berlin International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (BICSA), www.bicsa.org. He is the author of four books, including his new book in 2013, a 648 page study on Antisemitism: A Specific Phenomenon – Holocaust Trivialization – Islamism – Post-colonial and Cosmopolitan anti-Zionism (www.editioncritic.de). He publishes both in English and German and is a regular speaker at international conferences, dealing with topics like antisemitism, Islamism, Israel, the Middle East, contemporary Germany, the Holocaust and related topics.

Dr. Clemens Heni is the Director of the Berlin International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (BICSA), www.bicsa.org. He is the author of four books, including his new book in 2013, a 648 page study on Antisemitism: A Specific Phenomenon – Holocaust Trivialization – Islamism – Post-colonial and Cosmopolitan anti-Zionism (www.editioncritic.de). He publishes both in English and German and is a regular speaker at international conferences, dealing with topics like antisemitism, Islamism, Israel, the Middle East, contemporary Germany, the Holocaust and related topics.

Hanin Ghaddar is the inaugural Friedmann Visiting Fellow at The Washington Institute's Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

The longtime managing editor of Lebanon's NOW news website, Ghaddar shed light on a broad range of cutting-edge issues, from the evolution of Hezbollah inside Lebanon's fractured political system to Iran's growing influence throughout the Middle East. In addition, she has contributed to a number of U.S.-based magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and Foreign Policy.

Prior to joining NOW in 2007, Ghaddar wrote for the Lebanese newspapers As-Safir, An-Nahar, and Al-Hayat, and also worked as a researcher for the United Nations Development Program regional office. A native of Al-Ghazieh, Lebanon, Ghaddar holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in Middle East studies, both from the American University of Beirut.

Hanin Ghaddar is the inaugural Friedmann Visiting Fellow at The Washington Institute's Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

The longtime managing editor of Lebanon's NOW news website, Ghaddar shed light on a broad range of cutting-edge issues, from the evolution of Hezbollah inside Lebanon's fractured political system to Iran's growing influence throughout the Middle East. In addition, she has contributed to a number of U.S.-based magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and Foreign Policy.

Prior to joining NOW in 2007, Ghaddar wrote for the Lebanese newspapers As-Safir, An-Nahar, and Al-Hayat, and also worked as a researcher for the United Nations Development Program regional office. A native of Al-Ghazieh, Lebanon, Ghaddar holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in Middle East studies, both from the American University of Beirut.

Matthew Levitt is a senior fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Previously, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and earlier still as an FBI counterterrorism analyst. He is the author of several books, including Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale University Press, 2006) and the forthcoming Hezbollah's Global Reach: The Worldwide Presence of Lebanon's Party of God.

Matthew Levitt is a senior fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Previously, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and earlier still as an FBI counterterrorism analyst. He is the author of several books, including Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad (Yale University Press, 2006) and the forthcoming Hezbollah's Global Reach: The Worldwide Presence of Lebanon's Party of God.

Emmanuel Karagiannis is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Macedonia’s Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies in Thessaloniki, Greece and a Research Associate of Bryn Mawr College's Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethno-political Conflict in the United States. He is the author of Political Islam in Central Asia: The Challenge of Hizb ut-Tahrir (New York: Routledge, 2010).

Emmanuel Karagiannis is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Macedonia’s Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies in Thessaloniki, Greece and a Research Associate of Bryn Mawr College's Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethno-political Conflict in the United States. He is the author of Political Islam in Central Asia: The Challenge of Hizb ut-Tahrir (New York: Routledge, 2010).

Emmanuel Karagiannis is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Macedonia’s Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies in Thessaloniki, Greece and a Research Associate of Bryn Mawr College's Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethno-political Conflict in the United States. He is the author of Political Islam in Central Asia: The Challenge of Hizb ut-Tahrir (New York: Routledge, 2010).

Tyler Rauert is a Professor of International Law and Political Violence at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies of the National Defense University. He focuses on the study of just war theory, the law of armed conflict, human rights, transnational organized crime, and security in the Middle East and South Asia. The views expressed herein do not represent those of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense, or any other branch of the U.S. government.

Dr. Ajai Sahni is Founding Member & Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management; Editor, South Asia Intelligence Review; Executive Director, South Asia Terrorism Portal; Executive Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. He has researched and written extensively on issues relating to conflict, politics and development in South Asia, and has participated in advisory projects undertaken for various National or State Governments. He jointly edited (with K.P.S. Gill) Terror & Containment: Perspectives on India’s Internal Security; and The Global Threat of Terror: Ideological, Material and Political Linkages. He has lectured at numerous professional institutions.

Dr. Ajai Sahni is Founding Member & Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management; Editor, South Asia Intelligence Review; Executive Director, South Asia Terrorism Portal; Executive Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. He has researched and written extensively on issues relating to conflict, politics and development in South Asia, and has participated in advisory projects undertaken for various National or State Governments. He jointly edited (with K.P.S. Gill) Terror & Containment: Perspectives on India’s Internal Security; and The Global Threat of Terror: Ideological, Material and Political Linkages. He has lectured at numerous professional institutions.

Dr. Ajai Sahni is Founding Member & Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management; Editor, South Asia Intelligence Review; Executive Director, South Asia Terrorism Portal; Executive Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. He has researched and written extensively on issues relating to conflict, politics and development in South Asia, and has participated in advisory projects undertaken for various National or State Governments. He jointly edited (with K.P.S. Gill) Terror & Containment: Perspectives on India’s Internal Security; and The Global Threat of Terror: Ideological, Material and Political Linkages. He has lectured at numerous professional institutions.

Dr. Ajai Sahni is Founding Member & Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management; Editor, South Asia Intelligence Review; Executive Director, South Asia Terrorism Portal; Executive Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. He has researched and written extensively on issues relating to conflict, politics and development in South Asia, and has participated in advisory projects undertaken for various National or State Governments. He jointly edited (with K.P.S. Gill) Terror & Containment: Perspectives on India’s Internal Security; and The Global Threat of Terror: Ideological, Material and Political Linkages. He has lectured at numerous professional institutions.

Dr. Ajai Sahni is Founding Member & Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management; Editor, South Asia Intelligence Review; Executive Director, South Asia Terrorism Portal; Executive Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. He has researched and written extensively on issues relating to conflict, politics and development in South Asia, and has participated in advisory projects undertaken for various National or State Governments. He jointly edited (with K.P.S. Gill) Terror & Containment: Perspectives on India’s Internal Security; and The Global Threat of Terror: Ideological, Material and Political Linkages. He has lectured at numerous professional institutions.

Dr. Namrata Goswami is an independent strategic analyst, author and consultant on counter-

insurgency, counter-terrorism, alternate futures, and great power politics. After earning her

Ph.D. in international relations, she served for nearly a decade at India’s Ministry of Defense

(MOD) sponsored think tank, the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi,

working on ethnic conflicts in India’s Northeast, counter-terrorism and China-India border

conflict. Her research and expertise generated opportunities for collaborations abroad, and she

accepted visiting fellowships at the Peace Research Institute, Oslo, Norway; the La Trobe

University, Melbourne, Australia; and the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In 2012, she was

selected to serve as a Jennings-Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace

(USIP), Washington D.C. where she studied India-China border issues, and was awarded a

Fulbright-Nehru Senior Fellowship that same year. Shortly after establishing her own strategy

and policy consultancy in 2016 after relocating to the U.S., she won the prestigious MINERVA

grant awarded by the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (OSD) to study great power

competition in the grey zone of outer space. In 2017, she was awarded a contract with Joint

Special Forces University (JSOU) to write a monograph on ISIS in Asia, in which one of her

field of study was Indonesia. The monograph has since been published and can be found here:

https://jsou.libguides.com/c.php?g=83714&p=5622417

With expertise in international relations, ethnic conflicts, counter insurgency, wargaming,

scenario building, and conflict resolution, she has been asked to consult for audiences across the

globe, from academia to policy-makers. She was the first representative from South Asia chosen

to participate in the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies NATO Partnership

for Peace Consortium (PfPC) ‘Emerging Security Challenges Working Group.’ She also

received the Executive Leadership Certificate sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School of

Government, National Defense University (NDU), and the Asia Pacific Center for Security

Studies (APCSS). Currently, she is working on a book project on “Ethnic Conflicts” with Oxford

University Press, and another one on ‘Great Power Ambitions in Outer-Space” to be published

by Lexington Press, an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield.

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Since 2008, Renad has held research and teaching positions focusing on issues of comparative politics and international relations in the Middle East. His research at Chatham House explores the situation of Iraq in transition and the dilemmas posed by state-building.

Prior to joining Chatham House, Renad was an El-Erian fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre, where he examined Iraq, Iran and Kurdish affairs. Renad is also a research fellow at the Cambridge Security Initiative based at Cambridge University and from 2013, he held positions as lecturer of International Studies and supervisor at the faculty of politics, also at Cambridge University. Renad has been a senior research fellow at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut since 2011 and was adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government Civil Society Ministry between 2008 and 2010. He received his PhD from Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Since 2008, Renad has held research and teaching positions focusing on issues of comparative politics and international relations in the Middle East. His research at Chatham House explores the situation of Iraq in transition and the dilemmas posed by state-building.

Prior to joining Chatham House, Renad was an El-Erian fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre, where he examined Iraq, Iran and Kurdish affairs. Renad is also a research fellow at the Cambridge Security Initiative based at Cambridge University and from 2013, he held positions as lecturer of International Studies and supervisor at the faculty of politics, also at Cambridge University. Renad has been a senior research fellow at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut since 2011 and was adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government Civil Society Ministry between 2008 and 2010. He received his PhD from Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Since 2008, Renad has held research and teaching positions focusing on issues of comparative politics and international relations in the Middle East. His research at Chatham House explores the situation of Iraq in transition and the dilemmas posed by state-building.

Prior to joining Chatham House, Renad was an El-Erian fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre, where he examined Iraq, Iran and Kurdish affairs. Renad is also a research fellow at the Cambridge Security Initiative based at Cambridge University and from 2013, he held positions as lecturer of International Studies and supervisor at the faculty of politics, also at Cambridge University. Renad has been a senior research fellow at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut since 2011 and was adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government Civil Society Ministry between 2008 and 2010. He received his PhD from Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Since 2008, Renad has held research and teaching positions focusing on issues of comparative politics and international relations in the Middle East. His research at Chatham House explores the situation of Iraq in transition and the dilemmas posed by state-building.

Prior to joining Chatham House, Renad was an El-Erian fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre, where he examined Iraq, Iran and Kurdish affairs. Renad is also a research fellow at the Cambridge Security Initiative based at Cambridge University and from 2013, he held positions as lecturer of International Studies and supervisor at the faculty of politics, also at Cambridge University. Renad has been a senior research fellow at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut since 2011 and was adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government Civil Society Ministry between 2008 and 2010. He received his PhD from Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Since 2008, Renad has held research and teaching positions focusing on issues of comparative politics and international relations in the Middle East. His research at Chatham House explores the situation of Iraq in transition and the dilemmas posed by state-building.

Prior to joining Chatham House, Renad was an El-Erian fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Centre, where he examined Iraq, Iran and Kurdish affairs. Renad is also a research fellow at the Cambridge Security Initiative based at Cambridge University and from 2013, he held positions as lecturer of International Studies and supervisor at the faculty of politics, also at Cambridge University. Renad has been a senior research fellow at the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies in Beirut since 2011 and was adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government Civil Society Ministry between 2008 and 2010. He received his PhD from Pembroke College, Cambridge.

As Deputy Director at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Marisa Cochrane Sullivan supervises the Iraq and Afghanistan Projects. Ms. Cochrane Sullivan also conducts research on Iraqi political dynamics, Shi’a militia groups, and the security envi­ronment in central and southern Iraq. Ms. Cochrane Sullivan has also authored numer­ous publications on these issues, including Balancing Maliki and The Fragmentation of the Sadrist Trend. Ms. Cochrane Sullivan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies from Boston College, where she held a Presidential Scholarship and won the prestigious McCarthy Award for her scholarship in the Social Sciences. She has also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain is an expert on the Middle East and the Washington correspondent of Kuwaiti daily Al Rai. Abdul-Hussain previously worked for the Congressionally-funded Arabic television channel Alhurra, and for Beirut's Daily Star. He has contributed articles to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, the International Herald Tribune and USA Today, and has appeared on both CNN and MSNBC. He appears regularly on Arabic satellite television channels. Abdul-Hussain is a graduate of the American University of Beirut.

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Craig Whiteside is an associate professor of national security affairs for the U.S. Naval War College at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He researches the Islamic State and is a fellow at the ICCT – The Hague, George Washington Program on Extremism, and USIP’s Resolve Network.

Anas Elallame is an Intelligence Analyst at Pinkerton at Facebook. He is also a Native Level linguist in Arabic & French. He Co-Authored “The Logistics of Terror: The Islamic State’s Immigration & Logistics Committee”, and translated several Jihadi organizations primary material sources.

Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice-President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and a board member of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. Ambassador Fernandez served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1983 to 2015, and as the State Department's Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications from March 2012 to February 2015. From 2009-2012, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea; prior to that, he was U.S. Charge d'Affaires to the Republic of Sudan (June 2007-May 2009), Director for Near East Public Diplomacy (2005-2007), Director for Iraq Public Diplomacy (2004-2005) and in senior public diplomacy positions at the U.S. Embassies in Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria, and Guatemala.

Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice-President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and a board member of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. Ambassador Fernandez served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1983 to 2015, and as the State Department's Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications from March 2012 to February 2015. From 2009-2012, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea; prior to that, he was U.S. Charge d'Affaires to the Republic of Sudan (June 2007-May 2009), Director for Near East Public Diplomacy (2005-2007), Director for Iraq Public Diplomacy (2004-2005) and in senior public diplomacy positions at the U.S. Embassies in Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria, and Guatemala.

Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice-President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and a board member of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. Ambassador Fernandez served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1983 to 2015, and as the State Department's Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications from March 2012 to February 2015. From 2009-2012, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea; prior to that, he was U.S. Charge d'Affaires to the Republic of Sudan (June 2007-May 2009), Director for Near East Public Diplomacy (2005-2007), Director for Iraq Public Diplomacy (2004-2005) and in senior public diplomacy positions at the U.S. Embassies in Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria, and Guatemala.

Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice-President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and a board member of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. Ambassador Fernandez served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1983 to 2015, and as the State Department's Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications from March 2012 to February 2015. From 2009-2012, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea; prior to that, he was U.S. Charge d'Affaires to the Republic of Sudan (June 2007-May 2009), Director for Near East Public Diplomacy (2005-2007), Director for Iraq Public Diplomacy (2004-2005) and in senior public diplomacy positions at the U.S. Embassies in Afghanistan, Jordan, Syria, and Guatemala.

Yaakov Lappin is a military and strategic affairs correspondent and researcher.

He is an Associate Researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan

University, and the Israel correspondent for Jane’s Defense Weekly and the military

correspondent for Jewish News Service (JNS.org).

Yaakov is a regular guest commentator on international TV and radio outlets, including Sky

News, BBC World Service, and I24, to provide commentary on defense issues.

In 2010, he published Virtual Caliphate – Exposing the Islamist state on the internet, a book that

explored the jihadist online presence.

Micah Levinson is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. Trained in government and political economy, he earned a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He also holds a certificate in counterterrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. Micah's research focuses on revolutionary groups and the stability of authoritarian regimes, and he has published on these topics in Politics, Philosophy & Economics and has contributed to The Political Economy of Democracy and Tyranny, edited by Norman Schofield.

Lorena Atiyas Lvovsky is Researcher at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), and serves as the ICT External Relations Manager, facilitating ICT cooperation with academic, security and governmental bodies.

Micah Levinson is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. Trained in government and political economy, he earned a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He also holds a certificate in counterterrorism from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel. Micah's research focuses on revolutionary groups and the stability of authoritarian regimes, and he has published on these topics in Politics, Philosophy & Economics and has contributed to The Political Economy of Democracy and Tyranny, edited by Norman Schofield.

Barak Seener is a Research Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Prior to his time at RUSI, Seener was one of the founding members of the Henry Jackson Society in Westminster, and was the Society’s Director for the Greater Middle East Section. As an expert on the Middle East and the Israel-Palestine controversy, he has appeared on multiple TV networks such as Al-Jazeera, the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, etc… and has published extensively for the Hudson Institute, Middle East Quarterly, Muslim World, Jerusalem Post, etc… Mr. Seener holds a Master’s degree in International Security and Global Governance from Birbeck College, University of London and a BA in History and Politics from Queen Mary, University of London.

Barak Seener is a Research Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Prior to his time at RUSI, Seener was one of the founding members of the Henry Jackson Society in Westminster, and was the Society’s Director for the Greater Middle East Section. As an expert on the Middle East and the Israel-Palestine controversy, he has appeared on multiple TV networks such as Al-Jazeera, the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, etc… and has published extensively for the Hudson Institute, Middle East Quarterly, Muslim World, Jerusalem Post, etc… Mr. Seener holds a Master’s degree in International Security and Global Governance from Birbeck College, University of London and a BA in History and Politics from Queen Mary, University of London.

Lorenzo Vidino, Ph.D., is the author of the 2011 and 2014 editions of the Italy chapter in the World Almanac of Islamism. He is also an academic and security expert who specializes in Islamism and political violence in Europe and North America. Currently a senior fellow at the Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich, he previously held positions at the RAND Corporation, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has taught at Tufts University, the University of Maryland (START), the National Defense University and the University of Zurich. He is the author of three books and frequent articles in several prominent newspapers and academic journals. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and consults with governments, law firms, think tanks and media in several countries. A native of Milan, Italy, he holds a law degree from the University of Milan Law School and a doctorate in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Lisa Aronson Wein is former Senior Analyst at CEB and a recent graduate of the masters program Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) where she specialized in European Studies and International Economics. While attending SAIS she worked at Frontier Strategy Group, a research and advisory firm that serves executives looking to expand into emerging markets, and the United States Department of Commerce Office of Trade Negotiations and Analysis. She has also held positions at the Population Reference Bureau and the American Foreign Policy Council. She received her Bachelors degree from the University of Florida.

Lorenzo Vidino, Ph.D., is the author of the 2011 and 2014 editions of the Italy chapter in the World Almanac of Islamism. He is also an academic and security expert who specializes in Islamism and political violence in Europe and North America. Currently a senior fellow at the Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich, he previously held positions at the RAND Corporation, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has taught at Tufts University, the University of Maryland (START), the National Defense University and the University of Zurich. He is the author of three books and frequent articles in several prominent newspapers and academic journals. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and consults with governments, law firms, think tanks and media in several countries. A native of Milan, Italy, he holds a law degree from the University of Milan Law School and a doctorate in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

AFPC thanks our anonymous authors for their generous contributions to the World Almanac of Islamism.

AFPC thanks our anonymous authors for their generous contributions to the World Almanac of Islamism.

Dr. Francesco Marone is Research Fellow for the Program on Radicalization and International Terrorism at ISPI - Italian Institute for International Political Studies, in Milan, and Adjunct Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Pavia. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT). He is the author of several publications in the field of security studies. In particular, his research interests focus on radicalization and terrorism.

Dr. Francesco Marone is Research Fellow for the Program on Radicalization and International Terrorism at ISPI - Italian Institute for International Political Studies, in Milan, and Adjunct Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Pavia. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT). He is the author of several publications in the field of security studies. In particular, his research interests focus on radicalization and terrorism.

Dr. Francesco Marone is Research Fellow for the Program on Radicalization and International Terrorism at ISPI - Italian Institute for International Political Studies, in Milan, and Adjunct Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Pavia. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT). He is the author of several publications in the field of security studies. In particular, his research interests focus on radicalization and terrorism.

Ehud Rosen is an expert on modern political Islam, focusing on the ideology and history of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and Europe. He is a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and teaches at Bar-Ilan University. Among his relevant publications are "The Muslim Brotherhood's concept of education", Current Trends of Islamist Ideology (vol. 7, November 2008), and "Reading the runes? The United States and the Muslim Brotherhood as seen through the Wikileaks cables" (co-authored with Dr. Martyn Frampton), The Historical Journal, Cambridge (forthcoming 2013).

Ehud Rosen is an expert on modern political Islam, focusing on the ideology and history of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and Europe. He is a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and teaches at Bar-Ilan University. Among his relevant publications are "The Muslim Brotherhood's concept of education", Current Trends of Islamist Ideology (vol. 7, November 2008), and "Reading the runes? The United States and the Muslim Brotherhood as seen through the Wikileaks cables" (co-authored with Dr. Martyn Frampton), The Historical Journal, Cambridge (forthcoming 2013).

Ehud Rosen is an expert on modern political Islam, focusing on the ideology and history of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and Europe. He is a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and teaches at Bar-Ilan University. Among his relevant publications are "The Muslim Brotherhood's concept of education", Current Trends of Islamist Ideology (vol. 7, November 2008), and "Reading the runes? The United States and the Muslim Brotherhood as seen through the Wikileaks cables" (co-authored with Dr. Martyn Frampton), The Historical Journal, Cambridge (forthcoming 2013).

Ehud Rosen is an expert on modern political Islam, focusing on the ideology and history of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and Europe. He is a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and teaches at Bar-Ilan University. Among his relevant publications are "The Muslim Brotherhood's concept of education", Current Trends of Islamist Ideology (vol. 7, November 2008), and "Reading the runes? The United States and the Muslim Brotherhood as seen through the Wikileaks cables" (co-authored with Dr. Martyn Frampton), The Historical Journal, Cambridge (forthcoming 2013).

Yair Minzili is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy. He is a veteran expert on Islamic radicalism and has specialized and published on the Islamic movement in Jordan and the strategies of the Jihadi-salafi movements.

Dr. Bar is Director of Studies at the Institute of Policy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel. He retired from the Israeli civil service in 2003 after 30 years as an intelligence analyst, during which he specialized in Jordanian, Palestinian, Iranian and Syrian affairs, and ideological and operational aspects of the Jihadi-Salafi movement and served in various senior positions in Israel and abroad. Dr. Bar holds a Ph.D. in History of the Middle East from Tel-Aviv University (1989), M.A. (Magna cum Laude) in History of the Middle East from Tel-Aviv University (1984) and a B.A from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1974, in Jewish and Middle Eastern History. He has published numerous books and papers on Middle Eastern affairs, terrorism and radical Islam.

Mr. Julian Tucker is a Research Fellow and Research Coordinator at the Stockholm China Center of ISDP. He recently completed his Master of Arts in Central Asian Studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. He also pursued Uzbek language and history courses at the Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages in Uzbekistan. He holds a BA in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Languages from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Mr. Tucker’s research interests include the implications of regional authority and security structures in Central Asia for international development efforts. At the China Center his work will focus primarily on the One Belt One Road Initiative and Maritime Security in the South China Sea.

Farrukh Irnazarov is a Country Director for Uzbekistan at the Central Asian Development Institute since 2011. He has been working on Central Asia for 15 years and he conducted research projects for the World Bank, ADB, GIZ, GDN, USAID, IOM, Volkswagen and Gerda Henkel Foundations. In 2014-15, he was a Visiting Researcher at the Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. Previously, Mr. Irnazarov worked for University of Applied Sciences Goettingen, National College of Ireland, Schwarzkopf and Henkel and Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Uzbekistan. Mr. Irnazarov has experience in the area of labour migration, radicalization, economic transition and urbanization as well as public policy and good governance. Mr. Irnazarov also gives master classes on communication and interviewing in difficult environments. He is completing his PhD in International Studies at the University of Groningen and has two MSc degrees - one in Business Administration and Economics from Stockholm University (2006) and another one in International and European Relations from Linköping University (2005).

Mariya Y. Omelicheva is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science of the University of Kansas. She holds PhD (2007) in Political Science from Purdue University and JD in International Law (2000) from Moscow National Law Academy. Dr. Omelicheva's research and teaching interests include international and Eurasian security, counterterrorism and human rights, democracy promotion in the post-Soviet territory, Russia's foreign and security policy, and terrorism/crime nexus in Eurasia. She has published on these subjects in Terrorism and Political Violence, Europe-Asia Studies, International Journal of Human Rights, Central Asia Survey, Cambridge Review of International Relations, and other journals. She is the author of Counterterrorism Policies in Central Asia (Routledge 2011), which received an Outstanding Academic Title award by Choice, and Democracy in Central Asia: Competing Perspectives and Alternate Strategies (University Press of Kentucky 2015), and editor of Nationalism and Identity Construction in Central Asia: Dimensions, Dynamics, and Directions (Lexington 2015).

Ariel Cohen is a Senior Research Fellow at The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He received his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Dr. Cohen is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, and Association for the Study of Nationalities. His research interests include the economic development and political reform in the former Soviet Republics, and continuing conflicts in the Middle East. He has on multiple occasions testified on Russian and Eurasian politics, economics, and law before the U.S. Congress. Dr. Cohen has also published numerous pieces of writing.

Chris (Christopher) Deliso is an American expert on the Balkan/Mediterranean region, with specializations in security, migration, intelligence, travel and culture deriving from over 20 years of in-field work and, ultimately, an Honours MPhil in Byzantine Studies from Oxford University (1999). He is the author of numerous books and articles in the academic and popular press, and has spoken frequently at international conferences for US governmental bodies in issues concerning Southeastern Europe.

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Courtney Freer is an assistant professorial research fellow at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is the author of Rentier Islamism: The Role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf Monarchies (Oxford University Press, 2018), the first English language book focused on the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf states and specializes in domestic politics and foreign policies of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Ph.D., is the Baker Institute fellow for Kuwait. Working across the disciplines of political science, international relations and international political economy, his research examines the changing position of Persian Gulf states in the global order, as well as the emergence of longer-term, non-military challenges to regional security. He is a visiting fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre and an associate fellow at Chatham House in the United Kingdom.

Coates Ulrichsen has published extensively on the Gulf. His books include Insecure Gulf: the End of Certainty and the Transition to the Post-Oil Era (Columbia University Press, 2011) and The Political Economy of Arab Gulf States (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012). He is currently completing a book on Qatar and the Arab Spring and has been commissioned to write a textbook on the Gulf and international political economy. Coates Ulrichsen's articles have appeared several academic journals, and he consults regularly on Gulf issues for Oxford Analytica and the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre. He also authors a monthly column for Gulf Business News and Analysis.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Ph.D., is the Baker Institute fellow for Kuwait. Working across the disciplines of political science, international relations and international political economy, his research examines the changing position of Persian Gulf states in the global order, as well as the emergence of longer-term, non-military challenges to regional security. He is a visiting fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre and an associate fellow at Chatham House in the United Kingdom.

Coates Ulrichsen has published extensively on the Gulf. His books include Insecure Gulf: the End of Certainty and the Transition to the Post-Oil Era (Columbia University Press, 2011) and The Political Economy of Arab Gulf States (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012). He is currently completing a book on Qatar and the Arab Spring and has been commissioned to write a textbook on the Gulf and international political economy. Coates Ulrichsen's articles have appeared several academic journals, and he consults regularly on Gulf issues for Oxford Analytica and the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre. He also authors a monthly column for Gulf Business News and Analysis.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Ph.D., is the Baker Institute fellow for Kuwait. Working across the disciplines of political science, international relations and international political economy, his research examines the changing position of Persian Gulf states in the global order, as well as the emergence of longer-term, non-military challenges to regional security. He is a visiting fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre and an associate fellow at Chatham House in the United Kingdom.

Coates Ulrichsen has published extensively on the Gulf. His books include Insecure Gulf: the End of Certainty and the Transition to the Post-Oil Era (Columbia University Press, 2011) and The Political Economy of Arab Gulf States (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012). He is currently completing a book on Qatar and the Arab Spring and has been commissioned to write a textbook on the Gulf and international political economy. Coates Ulrichsen's articles have appeared several academic journals, and he consults regularly on Gulf issues for Oxford Analytica and the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre. He also authors a monthly column for Gulf Business News and Analysis.

Aviv Oreg is a veteran officer of the Israeli intelligence community, mostly covering issues related to the “Global Jihad” phenomenon and its most dominant entity factor – the al-Qaeda organization. His last position was as head of the “Al Qaeda and Global Jihad” desk in the IDF’s military intelligence. Since the summer of 2007, Mr. Oreg has served as the founding president of CeifiT, an investigative consulting firm composed of veterans of the Israeli intelligence community that offers comprehensive research, analysis, and counseling services of the global jihad phenomenon.

Dr. Meena Singh Roy is a Research Fellow and heads the West Asia Centre at the Institute for

Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). Her area of specialisation is Central Asia and West Asia.

Prior to joining IDSA, she was a senior research scholar in the Department of African Studies,

Delhi University. She was associated with Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Oriental

and African Studies and London School of Economics for her research work. She was a visiting

Research Fellow with German Institute of Global and Area Studies Institute of Asian Studies

(GIGA) in 2014.

Dr. Singh Roy has several peer-reviewed articles and papers focused on West Asia and Central Asia. She

has also been involved in net assessment reports and strategic gaming on West Asia and Central

Asia. She has published a monograph titled The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: India

Seeking New Role in the Eurasian Regional Mechanism (2014), books titled, International and

Regional Security Dynamics: Indian and Iranian Perspectives (ed.) (July 2009); Emerging Trends

in West Asia: Regional and Global Implications (ed.), (2014), Persian Gulf 2016-17 India’s

Relations with the Region (co-edited with Prof. P. R. Kumaraswamy), 2017; Ideology, Politics

and New Security Challenges in West Asia (ed.) , 2018 and completed the joint Delhi Policy

Group and the IDSA Task Force report on West Asia in Transition in 2015.

Farrukh Irnazarov is a Country Director for Uzbekistan at the Central Asian Development Institute since 2011. He has been working on Central Asia for 15 years and he conducted research projects for the World Bank, ADB, GIZ, GDN, USAID, IOM, Volkswagen and Gerda Henkel Foundations. In 2014-15, he was a Visiting Researcher at the Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. Previously, Mr. Irnazarov worked for University of Applied Sciences Goettingen, National College of Ireland, Schwarzkopf and Henkel and Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Uzbekistan. Mr. Irnazarov has experience in the area of labour migration, radicalization, economic transition and urbanization as well as public policy and good governance. Mr. Irnazarov also gives master classes on communication and interviewing in difficult environments. He is completing his PhD in International Studies at the University of Groningen and has two MSc degrees - one in Business Administration and Economics from Stockholm University (2006) and another one in International and European Relations from Linköping University (2005).

Cory Bender is the Program Officer for Central Asia at the Institute for Global Engagement. He received a bachelor’s degree in Russian Studies and Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before coming to IGE, Bender worked at the American Foreign Policy Council, and conducted research on Central Asia at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Political-Military Analysis. He also interned at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, where he coordinated public affairs and consular programs. In 2011, Bender studied abroad at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he also worked as an Editorial Assistant at the Institute for Public Policy, a Bishkek-based think tank. He studied Russian in Kazan, Russia as a Critical Language Scholar and at Middlebury College, where he was a Kathryn Davis Fellow. He is originally from Chelmsford, Massachusetts and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

Evgueni Novikov is an expert with extensive on-the-ground experience in Islam and considerable practical experience in the Central Asia and Persian Gulf regions. Dr. Novikov was one of top experts on Islamic affairs for the Soviet government. He is the author of a number of articles and of several books, including Gorbachev and the Collapse of the Soviet Communist Party: The Historical and Theoretical Background (Peter Lang, 1994) and Central Asian Responses to Radical Islam (AFPC, 2006).

Ashley Tellis is a foremost expert in the fields of non-proliferation, South Asian strategic issues and U.S. Foreign Policy. Dr. Tellis is currently a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has served as the senior adviser to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs in negotiating the civil nuclear agreement with India. Prior to his position at the Carnegie Endowment, he was commissioned into the U.S. Foreign service, where he served as senior advisor to the ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Dr. Tellis is the author and co-author of several books, and has contributed greatly to many annual volumes and journals. Dr. Tellis holds a BA and MA from the University of Bombay and received a second MA and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Aaron Mannes is a researcher at the University of Maryland’s Laboratory for Computational Cultural Dynamics, a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, and a co-author of Computational Analysis of Terror Groups: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Springer 2013) as well as numerous popular and scholarly articles on terrorism and international affairs. He can be reached through his website – www.aaronmannes.com.

Michael Garber is a research assistant at the University of Maryland’s Laboratory for Computational Cultural Dynamics and earned a Masters with a concentration in international security affairs from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy.

Ashley Tellis is a foremost expert in the fields of non-proliferation, South Asian strategic issues and U.S. Foreign Policy. Dr. Tellis is currently a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has served as the senior adviser to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs in negotiating the civil nuclear agreement with India. Prior to his position at the Carnegie Endowment, he was commissioned into the U.S. Foreign service, where he served as senior advisor to the ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Dr. Tellis is the author and co-author of several books, and has contributed greatly to many annual volumes and journals. Dr. Tellis holds a BA and MA from the University of Bombay and received a second MA and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Hanin Ghaddar is the inaugural Friedmann Visiting Fellow at The Washington Institute's Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

The longtime managing editor of Lebanon's NOW news website, Ghaddar shed light on a broad range of cutting-edge issues, from the evolution of Hezbollah inside Lebanon's fractured political system to Iran's growing influence throughout the Middle East. In addition, she has contributed to a number of U.S.-based magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and Foreign Policy.

Prior to joining NOW in 2007, Ghaddar wrote for the Lebanese newspapers As-Safir, An-Nahar, and Al-Hayat, and also worked as a researcher for the United Nations Development Program regional office. A native of Al-Ghazieh, Lebanon, Ghaddar holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in Middle East studies, both from the American University of Beirut.

Hanin Ghaddar is the inaugural Friedmann Visiting Fellow at The Washington Institute's Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

The longtime managing editor of Lebanon's NOW news website, Ghaddar shed light on a broad range of cutting-edge issues, from the evolution of Hezbollah inside Lebanon's fractured political system to Iran's growing influence throughout the Middle East. In addition, she has contributed to a number of U.S.-based magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times and Foreign Policy.

Prior to joining NOW in 2007, Ghaddar wrote for the Lebanese newspapers As-Safir, An-Nahar, and Al-Hayat, and also worked as a researcher for the United Nations Development Program regional office. A native of Al-Ghazieh, Lebanon, Ghaddar holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in Middle East studies, both from the American University of Beirut.

Aaron Mannes is a researcher at the University of Maryland’s Laboratory for Computational Cultural Dynamics, a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, and a co-author of Computational Analysis of Terror Groups: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Springer 2013) as well as numerous popular and scholarly articles on terrorism and international affairs. He can be reached through his website – www.aaronmannes.com.

Ian Garner is the Mediterranean Research Associate at the NESA Center, National Defense University. His research interests include insurgency and state building, democratization, energy, and Islamic social movements.

Robert Rabil is the director of graduate studies and an associate professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Political Science. Dr. Rabil is an expert on Middle Eastern affairs, having written several books and multiple articles dealing with the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Radical Islam, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, and Syria. He served as chief of emergency of the Red Cross in Lebanon's Baabda ditsrict during the country's civil war. He also was project manager of Iraq Research and Documentation Project, a project affiliated with Harvard University and funded by the US State Department. Dr. Rabil holds a Master’s degree in Government from the Harvard University Extension School and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University.

Emily Estelle is an analyst for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. She researches al-Qaeda affiliates and associated movements in the Gulf of Aden and western and northern Africa, with a focus on Libya. Emily graduated Summa Cum Laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Anthropology modified with Arabic Language.

Emily Estelle is an analyst for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. She researches al-Qaeda affiliates and associated movements in the Gulf of Aden and western and northern Africa, with a focus on Libya. Emily graduated Summa Cum Laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Anthropology modified with Arabic Language.

Emily Estelle is an analyst for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. She researches al-Qaeda affiliates and associated movements in the Gulf of Aden and western and northern Africa, with a focus on Libya. Emily graduated Summa Cum Laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Anthropology modified with Arabic Language.

Brian J. Carpowich is a Research Intern at the American Foreign Policy Council who focuses on Radical Islamism, Terrorism and Middle Eastern security concerns. He is also pursuing a Master of Arts in International Affairs at George Washington University, where he studies both International and Transnational Security issues. He graduated from Saint Vincent College in 2016 with a BA in Political Science and a minor in International Studies. Mr. Carpowich has also received a Certificate in Middle Eastern Studies from the American University in Dubai.

Chloe Thompson is a Research Fellow and Program Officer at the American Foreign Policy Council. She serves as the Managing Editor of the World Almanac of Islamism. Her previous work with AFPC involved research on the military use and strategic implications of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as militant groups in the Middle East and Latin America. Ms. Thompson joined AFPC in June 2016 after graduating with High Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. She majored in Global Studies and Hispanic Studies, is proficient in Spanish, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Chloe Thompson is a Research Fellow and Program Officer at the American Foreign Policy Council. She serves as the Managing Editor of the World Almanac of Islamism. Her previous work with AFPC involved research on the military use and strategic implications of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as militant groups in the Middle East and Latin America. Ms. Thompson joined AFPC in June 2016 after graduating with High Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. She majored in Global Studies and Hispanic Studies, is proficient in Spanish, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Brian J. Carpowich is a Research Intern at the American Foreign Policy Council who focuses on Radical Islamism, Terrorism and Middle Eastern security concerns. He is also pursuing a Master of Arts in International Affairs at George Washington University, where he studies both International and Transnational Security issues. He graduated from Saint Vincent College in 2016 with a BA in Political Science and a minor in International Studies. Mr. Carpowich has also received a Certificate in Middle Eastern Studies from the American University in Dubai.

Aaron Y. Zelin is the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy where his research focuses on how jihadi groups are adjusting to the new political environment in the era of Arab uprisings and Salafi politics in countries transitioning to democracy. He also serves as a consultant and lecturer at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center's Practitioner Education Program. Zelin is a frequent contributor to Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and the Atlantic, and is the author of the New America Foundation's 2013 study The State of the Global Jihad Online. He independently maintains the widely cited website Jihadology.net and co-edits the blog al-Wasat.

Aviv Oreg is a veteran officer of the Israeli intelligence community, mostly covering issues related to the “Global Jihad” phenomenon and its most dominant entity factor – the al-Qaeda organization. His last position was as head of the “Al Qaeda and Global Jihad” desk in the IDF’s military intelligence. Since the summer of 2007, Mr. Oreg has served as the founding president of CeifiT, an investigative consulting firm composed of veterans of the Israeli intelligence community that offers comprehensive research, analysis, and counseling services of the global jihad phenomenon.

Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran is a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, where he produces analysis on Southeast Asian political and security issues, Asian defense affairs, and U.S. foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific. He is also a director at the consultancy Bower Group Asia and a senior columnist at The Diplomat, one of Asia’s leading current affairs publications.

A political scientist by training, Dr. Parameswaran is a recognized expert on Asian affairs and U.S. foreign policy in the region, with a focus on Southeast Asia and politics and security issues. He has conducted grant-based field research across the region, consulted for companies and governments, and taught courses affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State. His policy insights, research and commentary have been published widely in the United States and across the region in leading publications and journals including CNN, The Washington Post, The South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, Asia Policy and Contemporary Southeast Asia.

Dr. Parameswaran has held roles across think tanks, government, media and business in the United States and in the region, including most recently the Foreign Service Institute and The Diplomat, where he served as senior editor. In those capacities, he advanced research and analysis on key Asian political and security trends using rigorous research methodologies and extensive in-country networks, with an emphasis on Southeast Asia.

Dr. Parameswaran holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University focused on international security, international business and U.S. foreign policy, and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia where he studied foreign affairs and peace and conflict studies and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Joseph Chinyong Liow is Associate Dean and Professor of Comparative and International Politics at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) and Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009).

Animesh Roul is the Executive Director at Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, (www.sspconline.org) a Delhi-based policy research think-tank. In his earlier stint he worked as a Research Associate at New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, which hosts a leading terrorism database on South Asia (www.SATP.org). He holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has a master’s degree in Modern Indian History. Mr. Roul specializes in counterterrorism, radical Islam, terror financing, armed conflict and issues relating to arms control and proliferation in South Asia. He has written for Terrorism Monitor, the CTC Sentinel, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Militant Leadership Monitor, and CBW Magazine, among others. He is also serving as executive editor of South Asia Coflict Monitor (SACM), a monthly E-bulletin on armed conflicts and terrorist violence in South Asia.

Animesh Roul is the Executive Director at Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, (www.sspconline.org) a Delhi-based policy research think-tank. In his earlier stint he worked as a Research Associate at New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, which hosts a leading terrorism database on South Asia (www.SATP.org). He holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has a master’s degree in Modern Indian History. Mr. Roul specializes in counterterrorism, radical Islam, terror financing, armed conflict and issues relating to arms control and proliferation in South Asia. He has written for Terrorism Monitor, the CTC Sentinel, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Militant Leadership Monitor, and CBW Magazine, among others. He is also serving as executive editor of South Asia Coflict Monitor (SACM), a monthly E-bulletin on armed conflicts and terrorist violence in South Asia.

Animesh Roul is the Executive Director at Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, (www.sspconline.org) a Delhi-based policy research think-tank. In his earlier stint he worked as a Research Associate at New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, which hosts a leading terrorism database on South Asia (www.SATP.org). He holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has a master’s degree in Modern Indian History. Mr. Roul specializes in counterterrorism, radical Islam, terror financing, armed conflict and issues relating to arms control and proliferation in South Asia. He has written for Terrorism Monitor, the CTC Sentinel, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Militant Leadership Monitor, and CBW Magazine, among others. He is also serving as executive editor of South Asia Coflict Monitor (SACM), a monthly E-bulletin on armed conflicts and terrorist violence in South Asia.

Animesh Roul is the Executive Director at Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, (www.sspconline.org) a Delhi-based policy research think-tank. In his earlier stint he worked as a Research Associate at New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, which hosts a leading terrorism database on South Asia (www.SATP.org). He holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has a master’s degree in Modern Indian History. Mr. Roul specializes in counterterrorism, radical Islam, terror financing, armed conflict and issues relating to arms control and proliferation in South Asia. He has written for Terrorism Monitor, the CTC Sentinel, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Militant Leadership Monitor, and CBW Magazine, among others. He is also serving as executive editor of South Asia Coflict Monitor (SACM), a monthly E-bulletin on armed conflicts and terrorist violence in South Asia.

Laura Grossman is a Research Analyst for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Iran Energy Project. She co-authored Homegrown Terrorists in the U.S. and the U.K. and Terrorism in the West 2008 with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, in addition to Iran's Energy Partners and Iran's Chinese Energy Partners with Mark Dubowitz. She holds a BA in History from the University of Michigan and an MS in Global Affairs from New York University.

Julian Wyss is the assistant director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. Prior to the Atlantic Council, Julian worked in the humanitarian aid sector, including supporting Syrian refugee populations as an intern for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Jordan, and assisting with the resettlement of newly arrived Iraqi and Afghani refugees at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Northern California. Julian later employed his expertise in refugee support as the program director for the Salam Neighbor project, a documentary film about life in a Syrian refugee camp. He has also worked as a consultant in the humanitarian sector, most notably for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) in London, UK.

Julian holds an MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a BA in International Relations/Political Science from Carleton College, where his senior thesis involved field research on the influence of religious civic organizations in Mali. His professional interests include conflict, humanitarianism, migration, and security in the Sahel.

Chloe Thompson is a Research Fellow and Program Officer at the American Foreign Policy Council. She serves as the Managing Editor of the World Almanac of Islamism. Her previous work with AFPC involved research on the military use and strategic implications of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as militant groups in the Middle East and Latin America. Ms. Thompson joined AFPC in June 2016 after graduating with High Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. She majored in Global Studies and Hispanic Studies, is proficient in Spanish, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

James Wholley is a program management professional monitoring security threats in sub-Saharan

Africa, with a focus on the Sahel and northern Mozambique. He was formerly a Program Assistant in the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. In 2016, he supported the Mandela Washington Fellowship as part of the International Research and Exchanges Board. James has a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University.

Martin A. Ewi joined the Institute for Security Studies in July 2010, as a Senior Researcher, International Crime in Africa Programme (ICAP), Pretoria Office. He previously served as a Political Affairs Officer at the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) based in The Hague, the Netherlands from 2005 to 2010. Before joining the OPCW, Mr Ewi was in charge of the African Union Commission’s counter-terrorism programme in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was concurrently in charge of security strategic issues from 2002 to 2005.

Mr. Ewi holds a MA degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, at Southbend, Indiana, United States of America. He also holds a BA (with Distinction) in Peace Studies and International Politics from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, United States of America. His research focus is in the area of counterterrorism and the competences of regional organisations in Africa on strategic security issues.

Martin A. Ewi joined the Institute for Security Studies in July 2010, as a Senior Researcher, International Crime in Africa Programme (ICAP), Pretoria Office. He previously served as a Political Affairs Officer at the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) based in The Hague, the Netherlands from 2005 to 2010. Before joining the OPCW, Mr Ewi was in charge of the African Union Commission’s counter-terrorism programme in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was concurrently in charge of security strategic issues from 2002 to 2005.

Mr. Ewi holds a MA degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, at Southbend, Indiana, United States of America. He also holds a BA (with Distinction) in Peace Studies and International Politics from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, United States of America. His research focus is in the area of counterterrorism and the competences of regional organisations in Africa on strategic security issues.

Martin A. Ewi joined the Institute for Security Studies in July 2010, as a Senior Researcher, International Crime in Africa Programme (ICAP), Pretoria Office. He previously served as a Political Affairs Officer at the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) based in The Hague, the Netherlands from 2005 to 2010. Before joining the OPCW, Mr Ewi was in charge of the African Union Commission’s counter-terrorism programme in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was concurrently in charge of security strategic issues from 2002 to 2005.

Mr. Ewi holds a MA degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, at Southbend, Indiana, United States of America. He also holds a BA (with Distinction) in Peace Studies and International Politics from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, United States of America. His research focus is in the area of counterterrorism and the competences of regional organisations in Africa on strategic security issues.

Daniel Zisenwine is the author of two books, The Maghrib in the New Century (University Press of Florida, 2007) and The Emergence of Nationalist Politics in Morocco (Tauris Academic Studies, 2010). Dr. Zisenwine is a Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. He holds a Ph.D. from the Tel Aviv University.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

Jacob McCarty joined the American Foreign Policy Council in January 2019 as a Research Fellow and Program Officer. He currently serves as the Managing Editor of the Council’s World Almanac of Islamism project. His commentary can be found in The Hill, Jane's Defence Weekly, The National Interest, and The Washington Times. Prior to joining AFPC, Jacob conducted research into defense acquisition reform, force modernization, international trade, global cities, and African politics for a number of policy institutions, and oversaw several development projects on two continents.

A graduate of Ohio University, he has lived in North Africa and the South Pacific. He completed a Masters of Science in Defense & Strategic Studies in August 2019, focusing on the role of global cities and African politics and their impact on U.S. foreign policy and international institutions. He is proficient in the French language.

Eric Trager, the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute, is an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts and returns frequently to conduct firsthand interviews with leaders in Egypt's government, military, political parties, media, and civil society. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, and the New Republic.

Trager is the author of Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days (Georgetown University Press, 2016) which chronicles the precipitous rise to power of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, culminating in the election of President Mohamed Morsi in 2012, and its sudden demise just a year later. The book also assesses the current state of Egyptian politics and the prospects for a reemergence of the Brotherhood.

Dr. Trager has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on Egyptian opposition parties. From 2006-2007, he lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his M.A. in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew.

Eric Trager, the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute, is an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts and returns frequently to conduct firsthand interviews with leaders in Egypt's government, military, political parties, media, and civil society. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, and the New Republic.

Trager is the author of Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days (Georgetown University Press, 2016) which chronicles the precipitous rise to power of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, culminating in the election of President Mohamed Morsi in 2012, and its sudden demise just a year later. The book also assesses the current state of Egyptian politics and the prospects for a reemergence of the Brotherhood.

Dr. Trager has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on Egyptian opposition parties. From 2006-2007, he lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his M.A. in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew.

Eric Trager, the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute, is an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts and returns frequently to conduct firsthand interviews with leaders in Egypt's government, military, political parties, media, and civil society. His writings have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, and the New Republic.

Trager is the author of Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days (Georgetown University Press, 2016) which chronicles the precipitous rise to power of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, culminating in the election of President Mohamed Morsi in 2012, and its sudden demise just a year later. The book also assesses the current state of Egyptian politics and the prospects for a reemergence of the Brotherhood.

Dr. Trager has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where his doctoral research focused on Egyptian opposition parties. From 2006-2007, he lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his M.A. in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

In 2009, Ms. Balling founded Fundación ECCO, a Colombian-registered nonprofit organization that promoted democracy and youth leadership in areas of conflict. She executed projects in areas where the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) insurgency operated, working with the Colombian Army, Air Force and the National Police. She received grants from USAID, U.S. Special Operations Command South, the International Organization for Migration and Spirit of America.

From 2013 to 2014, Ms. Balling served as a Subject Matter Expert to the U.S. Special Operations South commander and partnered with U.S. Army Civil Affairs teams downrange in Colombia. In this role, she interviewed numerous female demobilized FARC and ELN (National Liberation Army) fighters and worked with the Colombian military’s demobilization group to create the first tactical guide on individual demobilization. In 2015, Ms. Balling was pinned by the Colombian Minister of Defense with the Colombian Armed Forces’ “Medal of Distinguished Service.”

In 2016 and 2017, Ms. Balling organized and led two solo expeditions to Iraqi Kurdistan to deliver humanitarian aid and embed with a company of female Yazidi peshmerga soldiers who survived the 2014 genocide by ISIS.

From 2015 to 2020, Ms. Balling was the Senior Fellow for Latin American Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council. She has published articles in Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, the Small Wars Journal and Thehill.com. She has lectured at the Escuela Superior de Guerra in Bogotá, the National Defense University’s William J. Perry Center, the Institute of World Politics and Harvard Summer School. In 2019, Ms. Balling testified as an expert witness at a Senate Foreign Relations sub-committee hearing on U.S./Colombia relations.

Ms. Balling received her B.A.in English Literature at Barnard College, Columbia University and earned an Executive M.A. in National Security Affairs at the Institute of World Politics. She serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Universidad El Bosque in Bogotá, Colombia and is a 2020 recipient of the Phillips Academy Andover Alumni Award of Distinction.

Rachel is a Program Manager at the Center for a Secure and Free Society (SFS). She first joined SFS in 2014 as an undergraduate intern in the Fund for American Studies Institute on Economics and International Affairs program. As an intern, Rachel worked on translation of policy reports and op-eds on Latin American politics and the production of the 2014 book “Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America."

Following her internship at SFS, Rachel worked with the US Consulate in Guadalajara, MX as an intern in the US Department of State’s Virtual Student Foreign Service Program, researching economic and political data in Mexico and creating reports for the consulate. In 2015, she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and Linguistics, and was awarded the Senior Recognition Award for Service to the Department by the USC Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Rachel continues to work as a translator with Latin American investigative journalists and contributed to research on the 2016 special report “After Nisman: How the death of a prosecutor revealed Iran’s growing influence in the Americas” by SFS Executive Director Joseph Humire.

Rachel has been certified by the Spanish government as fluent in Spanish at the B2 level, and has lived and worked in Spain and Mexico.

Jon B. Perdue is the author of The War of All the People: The Nexus of Latin American Radicalism and Middle Eastern Terrorism published by Potomac Books in May 2012. Perdue is a noted scholar and researcher on issues of international terrorism, human rights, strategic communication, and peripheral asymmetric warfare. Mr. Perdue serves as the Senior Fellow for Strategic Research at the Center for a Secure Free Society, a Washington, DC think tank focused on economics and security, and as the Director of Latin America Programs at The Fund for American Studies. He co-edited the book Rethinking the Reset Button: Understanding Contemporary Russian Foreign Policy, and also wrote the foreword.

Mr. Perdue’s articles have been published in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Times, Investors Business Daily, and the Miami Herald, as well as a variety of newspapers in Latin America. In 2010, Mr. Perdue served as an expert witness in a precedent-setting human rights trial in the Miami Circuit Court, and in 2009 he traveled to Honduras as part of a senior U.S. delegation to take part in the historic Honduran presidential elections as an international observer.

Jon B. Perdue is the author of The War of All the People: The Nexus of Latin American Radicalism and Middle Eastern Terrorism published by Potomac Books in May 2012. Perdue is a noted scholar and researcher on issues of international terrorism, human rights, strategic communication, and peripheral asymmetric warfare. Mr. Perdue serves as the Senior Fellow for Strategic Research at the Center for a Secure Free Society, a Washington, DC think tank focused on economics and security, and as the Director of Latin America Programs at The Fund for American Studies. He co-edited the book Rethinking the Reset Button: Understanding Contemporary Russian Foreign Policy, and also wrote the foreword.

Mr. Perdue’s articles have been published in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Times, Investors Business Daily, and the Miami Herald, as well as a variety of newspapers in Latin America. In 2010, Mr. Perdue served as an expert witness in a precedent-setting human rights trial in the Miami Circuit Court, and in 2009 he traveled to Honduras as part of a senior U.S. delegation to take part in the historic Honduran presidential elections as an international observer.

Douglas Farah is president of IBI Consultants LLC and a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. For twenty years, he was a foreign correspondent and investigative reporter at the Washington Post, where he won numerous awards for his work. In addition to his national security consulting work he is a regular lecturer at universities, government agencies and foreign policy groups. He has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, has written two books and numerous articles and monographs.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Jacob Zenn is an analyst of African and Eurasian Affairs for The Jamestown Foundation and author of the Occasional Report entitled “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in al-Qaeda’s Africa Strategy,” published by The Jamestown Foundation in November 2012. In 2012, he conducted field research in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon on the socio-economic factors behind the Boko Haram insurgency. Mr. Zenn earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, where he was a Global Law Scholar, and a graduate degree in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins SAIS Center for Chinese-American Studies in Nanjing, China. He has spoken at international conferences on Boko Haram and is frequently interviewed and cited in international media.

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Christopher Deliso is an American journalist and author concentrating on the Balkans. Over the past decade, Chris has established a dedicated presence in the Balkans, and published analytical articles on related topics in numerous relevant media outlets, such as UPI, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane's Intelligence Digest. Chris is also the founder and director of the Balkan-interest news and current affairs website, www.balkanalysis.com, and the author of The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West (Praeger Security International, 2007).

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Michael Kugelman is the Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. His main specialty is Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and U.S. relations with each of them. Mr. Kugelman writes monthly columns for Foreign Policy’s South Asia Channel and monthly commentaries for War on the Rocks. He also contributes regular pieces to the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank blog. He has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has been interviewed by numerous major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic, BBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). He has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging from Pakistani youth and social media to India’s energy security strategy and transboundary water management in South Asia.

Mr. Kugelman received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He received his B.A. from American University’s School of International Service. Follow him on Twitter @michaelkugelman

Grant Rumley is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he focuses on Palestinian politics.

Grant has published in leading media outlets including Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, and contributed commentary to The New York Times, Reuters, and Newsweek. He is the author of the 2015 FDD report "The Race to Replace Mahmoud Abbas: Understanding and Shaping Palestinian Succession."

Prior to joining FDD, Grant was a visiting fellow at Mitvim, The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, where he authored, “Back to Basics: The Evolution of the Palestinian UN Campaign.” While in Jerusalem, Grant also founded and edited The Jerusalem Review of Near East Affairs. Previously, Grant served as a consultant in Washington on issues related to counter-terrorism, the Middle East, and war-gaming strategies.

Grant has an MA in Middle East Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in International Relations from Michigan State University. In 2010, he studied Arabic at the University of Alexandria, Egypt, and from 2012-2013 was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

Grant Rumley is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he focuses on Palestinian politics.

Grant has published in leading media outlets including Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, and contributed commentary to The New York Times, Reuters, and Newsweek. He is the author of the 2015 FDD report "The Race to Replace Mahmoud Abbas: Understanding and Shaping Palestinian Succession."

Prior to joining FDD, Grant was a visiting fellow at Mitvim, The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, where he authored, “Back to Basics: The Evolution of the Palestinian UN Campaign.” While in Jerusalem, Grant also founded and edited The Jerusalem Review of Near East Affairs. Previously, Grant served as a consultant in Washington on issues related to counter-terrorism, the Middle East, and war-gaming strategies.

Grant has an MA in Middle East Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in International Relations from Michigan State University. In 2010, he studied Arabic at the University of Alexandria, Egypt, and from 2012-2013 was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

Grant Rumley is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he focuses on Palestinian politics.

Grant has published in leading media outlets including Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, and contributed commentary to The New York Times, Reuters, and Newsweek. He is the author of the 2015 FDD report "The Race to Replace Mahmoud Abbas: Understanding and Shaping Palestinian Succession."

Prior to joining FDD, Grant was a visiting fellow at Mitvim, The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, where he authored, “Back to Basics: The Evolution of the Palestinian UN Campaign.” While in Jerusalem, Grant also founded and edited The Jerusalem Review of Near East Affairs. Previously, Grant served as a consultant in Washington on issues related to counter-terrorism, the Middle East, and war-gaming strategies.

Grant has an MA in Middle East Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in International Relations from Michigan State University. In 2010, he studied Arabic at the University of Alexandria, Egypt, and from 2012-2013 was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

David Barnett is a former research associate at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). His research focused on Palestinian politics as well as Salafi jihadist groups in the Palestinian Territories and Sinai Peninsula. He has been cited in numerous publications including the Washington Post, New York Times, and Foreign Policy.

Jonathan Schanzer is vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Jonathan worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers. A former research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Dr Schanzer is author of two books and two monographs. His 2008 book, Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine (Palgrave Macmillan), is still the only book on the market that analyzes the internecine conflict between the two most powerful Palestinian factions. His 2004 book, Al-Qaeda's Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror (Washington Institute for Near East Policy), was the first to explore the al-Qaeda franchises of the Middle East. More recently, Dr. Schanzer co-authored a monograph in 2010 with FDD’s executive director Mark Dubowitz titled, Palestinian Pulse: What Policymakers Can Learn From Palestinian Social Media (FDD Press). Using proprietary technology, this study collected data from thousands of Arabic language websites to reveal the trends, thoughts, and perceptions of Palestinians online, with a focus on those that could impact current U.S. policies. In 2012, he co-authored another cutting edge study, using the same technology, with FDD researcher Steven Miller titled, Facebook Fatwa: Saudi Clerics, Wahhabi Islam and Social Media (FDD Press). This cutting edge study explores the way in which Saudi religious figures disseminate their messages to the wider Muslim world.

Raymond Ibrahim is associate director of the Middle East Forum, author of The Al Qaeda Reader (Doubleday, 2007), and deputy publisher of The Middle East Quarterly. A widely published author on Islam, he regularly discusses that topic with the media, including Fox News, C-SPAN, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, NPR, CBN, and PBS. Mr. Ibrahim guest-lectures at the National Defense Intelligence College (Washington, D.C.), briefs governmental agencies (such as U.S. Strategic Command), provides expert testimony for Islam related lawsuits, and has testified before Congress regarding the conceptual failures that dominate American discourse concerning Islam. He began his career as a reference assistant at the Library of Congress’ Near East Section.

Richard Javad Heydarian is a Manila-based academic, having taught political science at Ateneo De Manila University and De La Salle University, Philippines. He is a regular contributor to Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and is the author of, among others, “Asia’s New Battlefield: US, China & the Struggle for Western Pacific” & “Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Élite Democracy”. He has written for/or interviewed by Aljazeera English, BBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Atlantic, South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia Review, Straits Times, among other leading publications.

Richard Javad Heydarian is a Manila-based academic, having taught political science at Ateneo De Manila University and De La Salle University, Philippines. He is a regular contributor to Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and is the author of, among others, “Asia’s New Battlefield: US, China & the Struggle for Western Pacific” & “Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Élite Democracy”. He has written for/or interviewed by Aljazeera English, BBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Atlantic, South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia Review, Straits Times, among other leading publications.

Jeffrey S. Payne is a Research Fellow and Academic Affairs Manager at the Near East-South Asia (NESA) Center at the National Defense University, which he joined in 2012 after serving for five years as an Instructor of Political Science at Butler University. As a Research Fellow at the NESA Center, Payne conducts analysis on Chinese foreign policy, South Asian security affairs, maritime security, and transnational movements. While at Butler, he taught classes on Asian politics, social movements, international relations, and political economy. Payne has also served as a consultant for the World Bank and as a faculty member for DePauw University. Payne received his Master’s Degree from Indiana University. Originally hailing from the Midwest, he has lived in China and traveled extensively throughout Asia.

Jeffrey S. Payne is a Research Fellow and Academic Affairs Manager at the Near East-South Asia (NESA) Center at the National Defense University, which he joined in 2012 after serving for five years as an Instructor of Political Science at Butler University. As a Research Fellow at the NESA Center, Payne conducts analysis on Chinese foreign policy, South Asian security affairs, maritime security, and transnational movements. While at Butler, he taught classes on Asian politics, social movements, international relations, and political economy. Payne has also served as a consultant for the World Bank and as a faculty member for DePauw University. Payne received his Master’s Degree from Indiana University. Originally hailing from the Midwest, he has lived in China and traveled extensively throughout Asia.

Zachary Abuza is Professor of National Security Studies at the National War College and Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Simmons College. He is the author of four books on politics and security issues in Southeast Asia.

Varsha Koduvayur is a senior research analyst at FDD focusing on the Gulf States, where she covers internal dynamics, regional geopolitics, illicit financing, and political and economic reform trends. Varsha was previously a researcher for the Middle East practice at Eurasia Group, and a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She studied Arabic language in Morocco through the Language Flagship program, completing her capstone year in Meknes. Varsha has a BA in International Relations from Michigan State University.

Yael Shahar is the Director for the Database Project Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the IDC Herzliya. Ms. Shahar also heads the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT) OSINT project. She specializes in the study of technological trends as applied to terrorism and intelligence sharing. She is a dynamic speaker, and has lectured worldwide on topics related to trends in terrorism, non-conventional and techno-terrorism, threat assessment and asymmetric conflict. Ms. Shahar studied Physics and Philosophy of Science at the University of Texas and at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has also served as a reservist in the IDF hostage rescue unit, and is a director and co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Asymmetric Conflict.

Yael Shahar is the Director for the Database Project Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the IDC Herzliya. Ms. Shahar also heads the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT) OSINT project. She specializes in the study of technological trends as applied to terrorism and intelligence sharing. She is a dynamic speaker, and has lectured worldwide on topics related to trends in terrorism, non-conventional and techno-terrorism, threat assessment and asymmetric conflict. Ms. Shahar studied Physics and Philosophy of Science at the University of Texas and at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has also served as a reservist in the IDF hostage rescue unit, and is a director and co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Asymmetric Conflict.

Yael Shahar is the Director for the Database Project Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the IDC Herzliya. Ms. Shahar also heads the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT) OSINT project. She specializes in the study of technological trends as applied to terrorism and intelligence sharing. She is a dynamic speaker, and has lectured worldwide on topics related to trends in terrorism, non-conventional and techno-terrorism, threat assessment and asymmetric conflict. Ms. Shahar studied Physics and Philosophy of Science at the University of Texas and at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She has also served as a reservist in the IDF hostage rescue unit, and is a director and co-founder of the Institute for the Study of Asymmetric Conflict.

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

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Heather Stetten joined AFPC as a Junior Fellow in December 2016. A specialist in Russia studies, Heather holds a Master’s Degrees from the Kathryn Davis School of Russian at Middlebury College in collaboration with the Russian State University for Humanities in Moscow. A former AFPC researcher, she previously worked with Transparency International and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow to write reports in English and in Russian on corruption in state-run corporations and best practices for setting up provisional governments in newly formed nations.

Gordon Hahn is a Senior Researcher for the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS) and an academic fellow at Smolny College in St. Petersburg, Russia. He has taught extensively on the topics of Russian domestic and foreign policy at Stanford, St. Petersburg State (Russia), Boston, American, and San Jose State Universities. Dr. Hahn is the author of two books and is published in many Russian and English language scholarly journals. He specializes in Muslim politics and terrorism in Russia. Dr, Hahn received his BA and MA from Boston College, and his Ph.D. from Boston University.

Varsha Koduvayur is a senior research analyst at FDD focusing on the Gulf States, where she covers internal dynamics, regional geopolitics, illicit financing, and political and economic reform trends. Varsha was previously a researcher for the Middle East practice at Eurasia Group, and a junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She studied Arabic language in Morocco through the Language Flagship program, completing her capstone year in Meknes. Varsha has a BA in International Relations from Michigan State University.

Chloe Thompson is a Research Fellow and Program Officer at the American Foreign Policy Council. She serves as the Managing Editor of the World Almanac of Islamism. Her previous work with AFPC involved research on the military use and strategic implications of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as militant groups in the Middle East and Latin America. Ms. Thompson joined AFPC in June 2016 after graduating with High Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. She majored in Global Studies and Hispanic Studies, is proficient in Spanish, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Leisel Bogan works in the private sector on global strategy and cybersecurity. Leisel’s career has focused on driving programs and initiatives across the international policy, technology, and national security sectors. Prior to her current role she was a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution where she focused on cybersecurity and international policy, and led the initial strategic outreach and coalition efforts of the Hoover Institution’s Washington D.C. office. From 2009-the end of 2012 she worked for Dr. Condoleezza Rice in a variety of capacities including as her deputy and interim Chief of Staff, ending her tenure as Director of Research, while concurrently working for private clients in emerging markets at the boutique geostrategic consulting firm, RiceHadleyGates, LLC. Leisel has also worked on new media technologies and strategy at Warner Bros. Entertainment and business advisor strategy, communications, and philanthropy at Palantir Technologies. She has lived in worked in Germany, and conducted Fellowships in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Japan, and Egypt. She holds a master’s degree in Public Policy with concentrations in economics and international relations from Pepperdine University, and has guest lectured at the undergraduate school’s study abroad program in Florence, Italy. Leisel began her career in television advertising as a child actor and trained professionally in ballet before teaching it for more than ten years. She is Term Member in the Council on Foreign Relations and is a 2016 Gabr Foundation Fellow.

Steve Miller is a Research Associate at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and co-author of Facebook Fatwa: Saudi Clerics, Wahhabi Islam and Social Media. He is fluent in Arabic and as part of his research at FDD; he monitors and analyzes the Arabic language press. He also conducts research related to extremism, ideology, and online media in Saudi Arabia. Prior to his time at the FDD, Mr. Miller was a policy analyst at the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, DC. He received his BA in Economics and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, including classical Arabic from Indiana University.

Steve Miller is a Research Associate at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and co-author of Facebook Fatwa: Saudi Clerics, Wahhabi Islam and Social Media. He is fluent in Arabic and as part of his research at FDD; he monitors and analyzes the Arabic language press. He also conducts research related to extremism, ideology, and online media in Saudi Arabia. Prior to his time at the FDD, Mr. Miller was a policy analyst at the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, DC. He received his BA in Economics and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, including classical Arabic from Indiana University.

Jonathan obtained his BA in history, politics, and French from the University of Toronto, where his studies focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining McLarty Associates, he served as the Associate Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, where he concentrated on geopolitical, commercial, and security issues in Central and West Africa and managed the Center’s publications and events portfolio. He has also worked at Oxfam France, helping to plan the organization’s annual Trailwalker fundraiser. Jonathan was born and raised in England. He is fluent in French.

A member of Haverford College's faculty since 1960, Glickman was the first director and campus co-ordinator of African Studies, part of the four college Consortium on African Studies, headquartered at University of Pennsylvania. He has served as visiting professor at universities in Tanzania, South Africa, Israel and in several states in the USA. He has authored, and edited and contributed to six books and numerous articles and reviews for a number of scholarly journals in political science and international relations. He is now a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, has served as Secretary of the American Political Science Association, and continues to serve as manuscript reviewer and book reviewer for several publishers and scholarly journals. He also consults for several government agencies and non-governmental organization.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

J. Peter Pham is Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives at the Atlantic Council as well as Director of the Council’s Africa Center. From 2008 to 2017, he also served as Vice President of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) and was founding Editor-in-Chief of its refereed Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Atlantic Council to serve in the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Pham’s contributions were made before his entry into government service.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

Rafael Bardaji is a member of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group. He has published several books and multiple works for scholarly journals. He was the founder and Director of the Grupo de Estudios Estrategicos until 1996 when he served as the executive adviser to the Spanish Ministers of Defense Eduardo Serra and Federico Trillo. He is also a member of the IISS in London and the International Council of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. Mr. Bardaji is a graduate in Political Sciences and Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid.

Rafael L. Bardají is CEO of World Wide Strategy LLC, a US based intelligence advisory firm. He was founder of the Strategic Studies Group, GEES, an independent private think tank based in Madrid; served as Senior Strategic Adviser to three different Spanish Defence Ministers and he has also been special adviser to the NATO Special Operations Command. Bardají graduated in Political Science and Sociology at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid and specialized in Strategic Issues and Military Affairs at Oxford University, Harvard and MIT.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

Margot van Loon is a Junior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. She conducts research, editing, and analysis in support of multiple AFPC publications. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for AFPC's World Almanac of Islamism. A graduate of American University, her research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Her commentary has appeared in U.S. News and World Report.

Rafael Bardaji is a member of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group. He has published several books and multiple works for scholarly journals. He was the founder and Director of the Grupo de Estudios Estrategicos until 1996 when he served as the executive adviser to the Spanish Ministers of Defense Eduardo Serra and Federico Trillo. He is also a member of the IISS in London and the International Council of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. Mr. Bardaji is a graduate in Political Sciences and Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid.

Jeff M. Smith is a research fellow in Heritage's Asian Studies Center, focusing on South Asia. He is the author/editor of "Asia’s Quest for Balance: China’s Rise and Balancing in the Indo-Pacific" (2018), and of "Cold Peace: China-India Rivalry in the 21st Century” (2014). He has contributed to multiple books on Asian Security issues, testified as an expert witness before multiple congressional committees, served in an advisory role for several presidential campaigns, and regularly briefs officials in the executive and legislative branches on matters of Asian security.

His writing on Asian security issues has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, the Harvard International Review, Jane’s Intelligence Review, The National Interest, and The Diplomat, among others. In recent years his expert commentary has been featured by The Economist, The New York Times, FOX News, The Washington Times, Reuters, and the BBC, among others. Smith formerly served as the Director of Asian Security Programs at the American Foreign Policy Council.

Kyle Orton is an independent researcher focused on the Syrian war and related terrorist groups. His work has been published in various outlets, including Foreign Policy, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He obtained his masters in social science from Liverpool University, completing his thesis on the conditions of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and previously worked at a London think tank.

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a graduate from Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a Jihad-Intel Research Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Follow him on Twitter at @ajaltamimi.

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a graduate from Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a Jihad-Intel Research Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Follow him on Twitter at @ajaltamimi.

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a graduate from Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a Jihad-Intel Research Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Follow him on Twitter at @ajaltamimi.

Matt Brodsky is the Director of Policy for the Jewish Policy Center (JPC) and the editor for the JPC’s journal, inFOCUS Quarterly. Prior to his work at the JPC, Mr. Brodsky was the Senior Geopolitical Analyst for IntelliWhiz LLC and a Legacy Heritage Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. He is an expert in Middle Eastern Affairs and Arab Politics, and has on multiple occasions has briefed and advised members of Congress, the Department of State, the Department of Defense and the National Security Council. Mr. Brodsky holds a MA in Middle East History from the Tel Aviv University.

Sagar was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana; his family is from Pune, India, and he has retained a keen interest in Indian and South Asian affairs, history, and politics since his childhood. Sagar graduated with a double BA from Boston College in 2013 in Political Science and Islamic Civilization and Societies, during which time he attended numerous study abroad programs in Kuwait, Israel/Palestine, and India. He also received a prestigious advanced study grant to conduct field research in Haiti, detailing sustainable relief efforts in the post-earthquake environment. Sagar spent over a year living in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, working with a risk consulting firm, the Levantine Group, and studying Arabic.

Sagar was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana; his family is from Pune, India, and he has retained a keen interest in Indian and South Asian affairs, history, and politics since his childhood. Sagar graduated with a double BA from Boston College in 2013 in Political Science and Islamic Civilization and Societies, during which time he attended numerous study abroad programs in Kuwait, Israel/Palestine, and India. He also received a prestigious advanced study grant to conduct field research in Haiti, detailing sustainable relief efforts in the post-earthquake environment. Sagar spent over a year living in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, working with a risk consulting firm, the Levantine Group, and studying Arabic.

Aaron Mannes is a researcher at the University of Maryland’s Laboratory for Computational Cultural Dynamics, a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, and a co-author of Computational Analysis of Terror Groups: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Springer 2013) as well as numerous popular and scholarly articles on terrorism and international affairs. He can be reached through his website – www.aaronmannes.com.

Dr. Timothy R. Furnish works as an analyst and author specializing in Islamic eschatology, Mahdism and sects. He blogs on these topics at the History News Network as the Occidental Jihadist (http://hnn.us/blogs/78.html) and on his own site www.mahdiwatch.org. His new book, The Caliphate: Threat or Opportunity?, is due out in 2011.

Kamoludin Abdullaev, an independent historian from Tajikistan, has more than forty years of

experience in study and teaching the modern history of Central Asia with a focus on Tajikistan,

Afghanistan, Uzbekistan. Since 1992, Dr. Abdullaev is a policy analyst and independent

consultant in international non-governmental research organizations involved in conflict

resolution, conflict prevention, peace-building, civil society building, and education in Central

Asia. From 1994-2014 he actively participated of the international research exchange programs

in the field of history and social sciences. Awards include: Fulbright Scholar (1994, the George

Washington University and 2005, Allegheny College, PA); Regional Exchange Scholar (1995,

Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, Woodrow Wilson International Center for

Scholars); the British Academy visiting fellow (SOAS, 1996); Visiting scholar at the University

of Toronto (2009); Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace

(USIP) in 2010-2011; Visiting Research Fellow at the Humboldt University of Berlin,

Crossroads Asia (2014) and others. Dr. Abdullaev taught Central Asian subjects from

multidisciplinary perspectives at Yale, the Ohio State University from 2001-2013. He authored

and edited 10 books in English and Russian including Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan. Third

Edition. Lanham-Toronto-Plymouth, UK: The Scarecrow Press Inc., 2018 and Ot Sintsiana do

Khorasana. Iz Istorii Sredneaziatskoi Emigratsii 20 veka. (From Xinjiang to Khurasan. From the

History of the 20 th Century Central Asian Emigration). Dushanbe: Irfon, 2009, as well as over 70

articles in English, Russian, Tajik, and translated into French, Farsi and Japan.

Dr. Abdullaev graduated from the department of history of the Tajik State University and

received his Doctorate from the Institute of the History of the USSR in Moscow in 1983. For

more details go to his page at: kamolkhon.com

Pulat Shozimov is Acting Head and Faculty Development Programme Manager of the Aga Khan Humanities Project (AKHP) at the University of Central Asia (UCA). In 2013, he became a professor of social philosophy. Mr Shozimov is the author of Tadzhikskaia identichnost' i gosudarstvennoe stroitel'stvo v Tadzhikistane ('Tajik Identity and State-Building in Tajikistan'), and one of the editors of Ferghana Valley: The Heart of Central Asia, published in the USA in 2011. He has written more than 80 articles for academic publications, both in Tajikistan and abroad. In 2005, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. He was a visiting scholar at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in 2001, and a visiting scholar at the Catholic University of America in 2008. In 2013, he was a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholar at the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Bonn in Germany.

Jonathan Lee is a human terrain analyst for the U.S. government, and a former researcher at the American Foreign Policy Council. His views do not reflect those of the United States government or the Department of Defense.

Cody Retherford joined the American Foreign Policy Council as a Junior Fellow in May 2020. He has conducted research on counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and state proxy, cyber, and information operations and strategy. He also has a background in market research and geopolitical risk analysis. Cody holds a BA in International Affairs and Middle East Studies. He is currently a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) pursuing an MA in International Economics and International Affairs. Prior to attending SAIS, Cody served as a US Army Officer on active duty for 5 years in light infantry and special operations organizations. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and Operation Resolute Support. He has also supported combat operations against terror groups across the Middle East.

Javid Ahmad is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and a senior intelligence manager at iJET International, a risk management firm, where he manages a fifteen-member team of intelligence analysts and provides analytical content and assessments to business and government clients. He is also a senior policy adviser to Afghanistan's minister of finance, focusing on devising policies and strategies on anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing issues. Additionally, he is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he researches and publishes on pressing security and counterterrorism issues in South Asia.

Previously, Javid worked on South Asia supporting the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program and the US Naval Postgraduate School. He also worked as a program coordinator for Asia for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, he has worked for the NATO HQ in Brussels, the Voice of America, and the Afghan embassy in Washington. He has also worked on governance issues for organizations in Kabul. Javid’s writing has appeared, inter alia, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Daily Beast. He has a BA in international relations from Beloit College and an MA in security studies from Yale University.

Javid Ahmad is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and a senior intelligence manager at iJET International, a risk management firm, where he manages a fifteen-member team of intelligence analysts and provides analytical content and assessments to business and government clients. He is also a senior policy adviser to Afghanistan's minister of finance, focusing on devising policies and strategies on anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing issues. Additionally, he is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he researches and publishes on pressing security and counterterrorism issues in South Asia.

Previously, Javid worked on South Asia supporting the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program and the US Naval Postgraduate School. He also worked as a program coordinator for Asia for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, he has worked for the NATO HQ in Brussels, the Voice of America, and the Afghan embassy in Washington. He has also worked on governance issues for organizations in Kabul. Javid’s writing has appeared, inter alia, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Daily Beast. He has a BA in international relations from Beloit College and an MA in security studies from Yale University.

Javid Ahmad is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and a senior intelligence manager at iJET International, a risk management firm, where he manages a fifteen-member team of intelligence analysts and provides analytical content and assessments to business and government clients. He is also a senior policy adviser to Afghanistan's minister of finance, focusing on devising policies and strategies on anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing issues. Additionally, he is a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he researches and publishes on pressing security and counterterrorism issues in South Asia.

Previously, Javid worked on South Asia supporting the Pentagon’s Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program and the US Naval Postgraduate School. He also worked as a program coordinator for Asia for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a Washington-based think tank. In addition, he has worked for the NATO HQ in Brussels, the Voice of America, and the Afghan embassy in Washington. He has also worked on governance issues for organizations in Kabul. Javid’s writing has appeared, inter alia, in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Daily Beast. He has a BA in international relations from Beloit College and an MA in security studies from Yale University.

Matt DuPee has studied political and security events in Afghanistan since 1999. His articles have been published in a variety of publications, including the CTC Sentinel, World Politics Review, Himal SouthAsian Magazine, Asia Times, The Center for Conflict and Peace Studies, and others. He holds an M.A. in Regional Security Studies (South Asia) from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, and continues his research on Afghanistan’s narcotics, politics, security, geography and human terrain issues for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Kelsey Lilley is a Manager of Policy and Government Relations with Deloitte. She was previously a Policy Analyst with Yorktown Solutions, a foreign policy and national security strategic advisory firm in Washington, DC, and Associate Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, where she coordinated the Council’s Sudan Task Force and led two delegations to Sudan to undertake consultations with government, civil society, and private sector stakeholders. Her expertise is in U.S. foreign and security policy in Africa, with a focus on the political and security dynamics of East Africa. Prior to the Atlantic Council, Kelsey lived and worked in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. She holds an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, which supported her 2018 research on security issues in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, Tanzania, and a BA in Political Science from Davidson College.

Kelsey Lilley is a Manager of Policy and Government Relations with Deloitte. She was previously a Policy Analyst with Yorktown Solutions, a foreign policy and national security strategic advisory firm in Washington, DC, and Associate Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, where she coordinated the Council’s Sudan Task Force and led two delegations to Sudan to undertake consultations with government, civil society, and private sector stakeholders. Her expertise is in U.S. foreign and security policy in Africa, with a focus on the political and security dynamics of East Africa. Prior to the Atlantic Council, Kelsey lived and worked in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. She holds an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, which supported her 2018 research on security issues in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, Tanzania, and a BA in Political Science from Davidson College.

Kelsey Lilley is a Manager of Policy and Government Relations with Deloitte. She was previously a Policy Analyst with Yorktown Solutions, a foreign policy and national security strategic advisory firm in Washington, DC, and Associate Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, where she coordinated the Council’s Sudan Task Force and led two delegations to Sudan to undertake consultations with government, civil society, and private sector stakeholders. Her expertise is in U.S. foreign and security policy in Africa, with a focus on the political and security dynamics of East Africa. Prior to the Atlantic Council, Kelsey lived and worked in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. She holds an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, which supported her 2018 research on security issues in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, Tanzania, and a BA in Political Science from Davidson College.

A member of Haverford College's faculty since 1960, Glickman was the first director and campus co-ordinator of African Studies, part of the four college Consortium on African Studies, headquartered at University of Pennsylvania. He has served as visiting professor at universities in Tanzania, South Africa, Israel and in several states in the USA. He has authored, and edited and contributed to six books and numerous articles and reviews for a number of scholarly journals in political science and international relations. He is now a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, has served as Secretary of the American Political Science Association, and continues to serve as manuscript reviewer and book reviewer for several publishers and scholarly journals. He also consults for several government agencies and non-governmental organization.

Richard Javad Heydarian is a Manila-based academic, having taught political science at Ateneo De Manila University and De La Salle University, Philippines. He is a regular contributor to Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and is the author of, among others, “Asia’s New Battlefield: US, China & the Struggle for Western Pacific” & “Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Élite Democracy”. He has written for/or interviewed by Aljazeera English, BBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Atlantic, South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia Review, Straits Times, among other leading publications.

Animesh Roul is the Executive Director at Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, (www.sspconline.org) a Delhi-based policy research think-tank. In his earlier stint he worked as a Research Associate at New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, which hosts a leading terrorism database on South Asia (www.SATP.org). He holds a Master of Philosophy degree from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has a master’s degree in Modern Indian History. Mr. Roul specializes in counterterrorism, radical Islam, terror financing, armed conflict and issues relating to arms control and proliferation in South Asia. He has written for Terrorism Monitor, the CTC Sentinel, Jane’s Intelligence Review, Militant Leadership Monitor, and CBW Magazine, among others. He is also serving as executive editor of South Asia Coflict Monitor (SACM), a monthly E-bulletin on armed conflicts and terrorist violence in South Asia.

Don Pathan is a Thailand-based consultant/analyst with more than 20 years of experience in covering diplomacy, international relations, transnational crime and insurgency in mainland Southeast Asia. Pathan has been working closely with The Asia Foundation and the World Bank on development in the conflict affected region in southern Thailand. Pathan briefs the diplomatic community, international think tanks and INGOs on a regular basis on issues pertaining to security in Thailand and the region. Pathan co-wrote a chapter that appeared in “Promoting Conflict or Peace through Identity”, a UN University book published by Ashgate in 2008, and co-authored “Confronting Ghosts: Thailand’s Shapeless Southern Insurgency” with Dr. Joseph Liow. Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, published the monograph in 2006. Pathan also wrote a chapter in the "Trouble in the Triangle: Opium and Conflict in Burma" in 2005 in which he examine the nexus between the United Wa State Army, the Thai government and the military regime o f Burma/Myanmar. Pathan is also one of the founding member of the Patani Forum, a civil society organization dedicated to promoting critical discussion on the conflict and insurgency in Thailand’s Malay-speaking South He is an associate at Asia Conflict and Security Consulting, Ltd. (ACAS), a Hong Kong-based consultancy that work on the intersect of conflict, development and investment.

Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf is Assistant Professor, Lecturer and Director of the Center for Buddhist-Muslim Understanding in the College of Religious Studies at Mahidol University in Thailand. He specializes in Religion with a focus on Islam in Thailand and Southeast Asia and also Muslim-Buddhist dialogue. In 2009-2010, he was visiting Associate Professor and Malaysia Chair of Islam in Southeast Asia at ACMCU, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.

Dr. Yusuf has contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic World (2009); Oxford Dictionary of Islam (2003); Encyclopedia of Qur'an (2002); and Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic World (1995). He was also the special Editor of The Muslim World - A Special Issue on Islam and Buddhism Vol. 100, Nos 2-3 April/July 2010.

Zachary Abuza is Professor of National Security Studies at the National War College and Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Simmons College. He is the author of four books on politics and security issues in Southeast Asia.

Emmanuel Cohen-Hadria is the Head of the Euro-Mediterranean Policies Department at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). With his team, he coordinates the activities of EuroMeSCo, a network of Euro-Mediterranean think tanks, as well as the annual publication of the Mediterranean Yearbook. His main fields of expertise are EU-Mediterranean relations, EU foreign policy and Tunisia. He published a number of articles on the transition in Tunisia as well as on EU-Tunisia relationships. Before joining the IEMed in 2015, Emmanuel Cohen-Hadria worked eight years for the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS). Between 2012 and 2015, he worked in the office of the then Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs of the EEAS, where he was in charge of Mediterranean issues. He graduated from Sciences Po Paris and holds a master’s from the College of Europe/Bruges. He lectures in various universities in Barcelona.

Chloe Thompson is a Research Fellow and Program Officer at the American Foreign Policy Council. She serves as the Managing Editor of the World Almanac of Islamism. Her previous work with AFPC involved research on the military use and strategic implications of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as militant groups in the Middle East and Latin America. Ms. Thompson joined AFPC in June 2016 after graduating with High Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. She majored in Global Studies and Hispanic Studies, is proficient in Spanish, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Chloe Thompson is a Research Fellow and Program Officer at the American Foreign Policy Council. She serves as the Managing Editor of the World Almanac of Islamism. Her previous work with AFPC involved research on the military use and strategic implications of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as militant groups in the Middle East and Latin America. Ms. Thompson joined AFPC in June 2016 after graduating with High Honors from Carnegie Mellon University. She majored in Global Studies and Hispanic Studies, is proficient in Spanish, and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Claire Berlinski joined AFPC as the Senior Fellow for Turkey in March 2012. Ms. Berlinski is a City Journal contributing editor, a freelance investigative journalist, traveler writer, biographer, and novelist who lives in Istanbul. She is the author of Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis is America's, Too, and There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters.

Her journalism has been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, First Post, the Oxford International Review, The American, Asia Times, the Globe and Mail, the New York Sun, The Weekly Standard, National Review, Policy Review, Radio Free Europe, World Affairs Journal, among others. She is also author of two spy novels and frequent guest on local and international radio talk shows.

Claire Berlinski joined AFPC as the Senior Fellow for Turkey in March 2012. Ms. Berlinski is a City Journal contributing editor, a freelance investigative journalist, traveler writer, biographer, and novelist who lives in Istanbul. She is the author of Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis is America's, Too, and There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters.

Her journalism has been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, First Post, the Oxford International Review, The American, Asia Times, the Globe and Mail, the New York Sun, The Weekly Standard, National Review, Policy Review, Radio Free Europe, World Affairs Journal, among others. She is also author of two spy novels and frequent guest on local and international radio talk shows.

Aaron Mannes is a researcher at the University of Maryland’s Laboratory for Computational Cultural Dynamics, a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, and a co-author of Computational Analysis of Terror Groups: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Springer 2013) as well as numerous popular and scholarly articles on terrorism and international affairs. He can be reached through his website – www.aaronmannes.com.

Okan Altiparmak is an international consultant on business and political matters located in Istanbul, Turkey. He is the founder of Nimbus Productions, which provides consultation and production services for film production and media companies filming or seeking guidance in Turkey.

Slavomir Horak holds a Ph.D. in International Area Studies at the Institute of International Studies, Charles University in Prague. He currently holds a tenure track position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Russian and East European Studies at the Institute of International Studies, Charlies University in Prague. His research covers political, social, and economic issues in the former USSR, with a focus on Central Asia, particularly Turkmenistan’s domestic issues, as well as its informal politics and state and nation-building.

He is the author of several books on Central Asian and Afghanistan internal developments as well as numerous articles published in Czech, Russian, and English scholarly journals. He has also provided expert consultation for the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bertelsmann Transformation Index, and other companies.

Slavomir Horak holds a Ph.D. in International Area Studies at the Institute of International Studies, Charles University in Prague. He currently holds a tenure track position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Russian and East European Studies at the Institute of International Studies, Charlies University in Prague. His research covers political, social, and economic issues in the former USSR, with a focus on Central Asia, particularly Turkmenistan’s domestic issues, as well as its informal politics and state and nation-building.

He is the author of several books on Central Asian and Afghanistan internal developments as well as numerous articles published in Czech, Russian, and English scholarly journals. He has also provided expert consultation for the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bertelsmann Transformation Index, and other companies.

Slavomir Horak holds a Ph.D. in International Area Studies at the Institute of International Studies, Charles University in Prague. He currently holds a tenure track position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Russian and East European Studies at the Institute of International Studies, Charlies University in Prague. His research covers political, social, and economic issues in the former USSR, with a focus on Central Asia, particularly Turkmenistan’s domestic issues, as well as its informal politics and state and nation-building.

He is the author of several books on Central Asian and Afghanistan internal developments as well as numerous articles published in Czech, Russian, and English scholarly journals. He has also provided expert consultation for the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bertelsmann Transformation Index, and other companies.

Cory Bender is the Program Officer for Central Asia at the Institute for Global Engagement. He received a bachelor’s degree in Russian Studies and Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before coming to IGE, Bender worked at the American Foreign Policy Council, and conducted research on Central Asia at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Political-Military Analysis. He also interned at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, where he coordinated public affairs and consular programs. In 2011, Bender studied abroad at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he also worked as an Editorial Assistant at the Institute for Public Policy, a Bishkek-based think tank. He studied Russian in Kazan, Russia as a Critical Language Scholar and at Middlebury College, where he was a Kathryn Davis Fellow. He is originally from Chelmsford, Massachusetts and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

Cory Bender is the Program Officer for Central Asia at the Institute for Global Engagement. He received a bachelor’s degree in Russian Studies and Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before coming to IGE, Bender worked at the American Foreign Policy Council, and conducted research on Central Asia at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Political-Military Analysis. He also interned at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, where he coordinated public affairs and consular programs. In 2011, Bender studied abroad at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he also worked as an Editorial Assistant at the Institute for Public Policy, a Bishkek-based think tank. He studied Russian in Kazan, Russia as a Critical Language Scholar and at Middlebury College, where he was a Kathryn Davis Fellow. He is originally from Chelmsford, Massachusetts and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

Annette Bohr is an Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Institute of International Affairs in London (Chatham House). She is the author or co-author of two monographs and numerous articles on Central Asian politics, contemporary history, and ethnic and language policies.

Now retired, Peck was a senior program officer at Meridian International Center in Washington, DC, where he designed and implemented professional study programs for participants in the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, from 1984 to 2015. Most of those programs were conducted for visitors from the Arab world, exploring such subjects as the role of religion, the rule of law, education at the secondary and post-secondary levels, and local and state government. Previously, he served as the Arabian Peninsula analyst in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, 1981-83, and was director of programs at the Middle East Institute, 1970-81.

He is the author of The United Arab Emirates: A Venture in Unity (1986) and of The Historical Dictionary of the Gulf Arab States (1997 and 2007), with a co-authored third edition of the Dictionary scheduled for publication in 2018. Additionally, he has contributed chapters on Arab world issues to ten books and published over 150 articles and encyclopedia entries on Middle East subjects.

He served as the president of the National Committee to Honor the Fourteenth Centennial of Islam, which exhibited art expressive of Islamic culture in Houston, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC in 1982.

Peck was born in Boston in 1939. Although he has lived and worked in the Washington, DC area for nearly 50 years, he remains a proud Bostonian. He received an AB in European History (honors) and an AM in Middle East Studies from Harvard University, and holds MA and PhD degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

He was married to Aida Ravelo Peck, a nurse originally from the Visayan region of the Philippines, who specialized in assisting open heart surgery. Son John is an architect working in Portland, Oregon.

Malcolm Peck has been a program officer at Meridian International Center for the past 30 years, where he helps to plan and implement professional study tours for participants in the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. Between 1981 and 1983, he was Arabian Peninsula analyst for the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and, from 1970 to 1981, was the director of programs at the Middle East Institute. Earlier, he taught at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. Peck is a specialist on Gulf-Arabian Peninsula issues and has published three books, ten chapters, and numerous articles on the topic. He received an A.B. and A.M. from Harvard University and an M.A., M.A.L.D., and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Malcolm Peck has been a program officer at Meridian International Center for the past 30 years, where he helps to plan and implement professional study tours for participants in the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. Between 1981 and 1983, he was Arabian Peninsula analyst for the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and, from 1970 to 1981, was the director of programs at the Middle East Institute. Earlier, he taught at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. Peck is a specialist on Gulf-Arabian Peninsula issues and has published three books, ten chapters, and numerous articles on the topic. He received an A.B. and A.M. from Harvard University and an M.A., M.A.L.D., and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Malcolm Peck has been a program officer at Meridian International Center for the past 30 years, where he helps to plan and implement professional study tours for participants in the State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. Between 1981 and 1983, he was Arabian Peninsula analyst for the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and, from 1970 to 1981, was the director of programs at the Middle East Institute. Earlier, he taught at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. Peck is a specialist on Gulf-Arabian Peninsula issues and has published three books, ten chapters, and numerous articles on the topic. He received an A.B. and A.M. from Harvard University and an M.A., M.A.L.D., and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Sam Westrop is director of Islamist Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. He is a fellow of the

Gatestone Institute, Freedom Association, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and the American

Islamic Forum for Democracy. He writes on the subject of extremism, radicalization and terror finance, and has published in dozens of newspapers and online publications based in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Bangladesh, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Along with his frequent appearances on radio and television, on stations that include the BBC and Al Jazeera, he is the author of Hidden in Plain Sight: Deobandis, Islamism and British Multiculturalism Policy, which was published as part of an edited book by Palgrave Macmillan in 2016. His work has been cited in the British Parliament and Congress and by prominent thinktanks around the world.

AFPC thanks our anonymous authors for their generous contributions to the World Almanac of Islamism.

AFPC thanks our anonymous authors for their generous contributions to the World Almanac of Islamism.

Ilan Berman is Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. An expert on regional security in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation, he has consulted for both the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Defense, and provided assistance on foreign policy and national security issues to a range of governmental agencies and congressional offices. Berman is the author or editor of five books:Tehran Rising: Iran’s Challenge to the United States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005),Dismantling Tyranny: Transitioning Beyond Totalitarian Regimes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Winning the Long War: Retaking the Offensive Against Radical Islam (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), and, most recently, Implosion: The End of Russia and What it Means for America (Regnery Publishing, 2013).

Ryan Evans is an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, King’s College London, where he previously worked as a project manager. In that capacity, he designed research projects and managed a U.S. government-funded study on the radicalization of Muslims in the West in collaboration with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland. From 2005 to 2008, he was a senior research analyst at the Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism.

Evgueni Novikov is an expert with extensive on-the-ground experience in Islam and considerable practical experience in the Central Asia and Persian Gulf regions. Dr. Novikov was one of top experts on Islamic affairs for the Soviet government. He is the author of a number of articles and of several books, including Gorbachev and the Collapse of the Soviet Communist Party: The Historical and Theoretical Background (Peter Lang, 1994) and Central Asian Responses to Radical Islam (AFPC, 2006).

Evgueni Novikov is an expert with extensive on-the-ground experience in Islam and considerable practical experience in the Central Asia and Persian Gulf regions. Dr. Novikov was one of top experts on Islamic affairs for the Soviet government. He is the author of a number of articles and of several books, including Gorbachev and the Collapse of the Soviet Communist Party: The Historical and Theoretical Background (Peter Lang, 1994) and Central Asian Responses to Radical Islam (AFPC, 2006).

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, focusing on the nexus between security, defense and economic freedom. Humire’s research and investigations on the crime-terror nexus, radical Islam and Iran’s influence in Latin America has been sought after by various entities within the U.S. government as well as think tanks and private sector clients throughout the hemisphere. Currently the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Humire is developing a global network of security and defense specialists that are focused on the intersection of security, intelligence, defense and economic development. Prior to his, Humire spent seven years with the United States Marine Corps, deployed to many hot spots around the world, including Iraq and Liberia, and partook in the first multinational military exercise in Latin America—Unitas 45-04. He is also a graduate from George Mason University with a degree in Economics and Global Affairs. Humire co-edited the first English book on “Iran’s strategic penetration of Latin America,” scheduled to be released in the fall of 2013 by Lexington Books.

AFPC thanks our anonymous authors for their generous contributions to the World Almanac of Islamism.

P.R. Marschner is a student of Latin American and Levantine synergies and has worked for the U.S. Departments of State and Defense. The views expressed are his own.

James Barnett is an independent researcher focusing on African and Middle Eastern security issues. He was previously an al-Qaeda analyst at the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. He received a BA with Highest Honors from the University of Texas at Austin and was a 2016-17 Boren Scholar in Tanzania.

Katherine Zimmerman is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the research manager for AEI’s Critical Threats Project. As the senior analyst on al Qaeda, she studies how the terrorist network operates globally. Her work is also focused on al Qaeda’s affiliates in the Gulf of Aden region and in western and northern Africa. She specializes in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based al Qaeda faction, and in al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia.

Ms. Zimmerman has testified before Congress about the threats to US national security interests emanating from al Qaeda and its network. She has also briefed members of Congress, their staff, and members of the defense community. Her analyses have been widely published, including in CNN.com, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

She graduated with distinction from Yale University with a B.A. in political science and modern Middle East studies.

Katherine Zimmerman is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the research manager for AEI’s Critical Threats Project. As the senior analyst on al Qaeda, she studies how the terrorist network operates globally. Her work is also focused on al Qaeda’s affiliates in the Gulf of Aden region and in western and northern Africa. She specializes in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based al Qaeda faction, and in al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia.

Ms. Zimmerman has testified before Congress about the threats to US national security interests emanating from al Qaeda and its network. She has also briefed members of Congress, their staff, and members of the defense community. Her analyses have been widely published, including in CNN.com, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

She graduated with distinction from Yale University with a B.A. in political science and modern Middle East studies.

Katherine Zimmerman is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the research manager for AEI’s Critical Threats Project. As the senior analyst on al Qaeda, she studies how the terrorist network operates globally. Her work is also focused on al Qaeda’s affiliates in the Gulf of Aden region and in western and northern Africa. She specializes in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based al Qaeda faction, and in al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia.

Ms. Zimmerman has testified before Congress about the threats to US national security interests emanating from al Qaeda and its network. She has also briefed members of Congress, their staff, and members of the defense community. Her analyses have been widely published, including in CNN.com, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

She graduated with distinction from Yale University with a B.A. in political science and modern Middle East studies.

Adam C. Seitz is the Senior Research Associate for Middle East Studies at Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia where he supports the University with his expertise on the Middle East, with a concentration on Iran and the Persian Gulf Region. Mr. Seitz is the co-author, with Anthony H. Cordesman (CSIS), of the book Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Birth of a Regional Nuclear Arms Race? (Praeger Security International, 2009). Mr. Seitz served in the U.S. Army as an Intelligence Analyst and is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran, serving in Al-Anbar province in 2003 and 2004.