Contributors

Abdelaziz Elkhalfaoui

Abdelfatah Bourouies

Abdulaziz Kilani

Abdulaziz Kilani (@AZ_Kilani) is a British-Arab expert on the Middle East. He is also the editor-in-chief of Sharq Wa Gharb Arabic electronic newspaper, a London-based independent news outlet. His articles and work have been published by Arabic-language media outlets such as Alrai newspaper (Jordan), Ammon electronic newspaper (Jordan), Al Jazirah newspaper (Saudi Arabia), Alanbaa Alsiyasia newspaper (Morocco), Donia Al-Watan (Palestine). His articles in English were published by media outlets such as Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, Lobelog, TRT World and others.

Achref Chibani

Achref Chibani is an environmental journalist who focuses on climate change, environment protection and natural resource conservation.

Alessandra Bajec

Alessandra Bajec is a freelance journalist specializing in the Middle East and North Africa. Between 2010 and 2011 she lived in Palestine, she was based in Cairo between 2013 and 2017, and she is now based in Tunis. Her articles have appeared in Middle East Eye, The New Arab, TRT World and rt.com among others. @AlessandraBajec

Alessandro Bruno

Alessandro Bruno (@TheAlessandrist) is an analyst at Gulf State Analytics (@GulfStateAnalyt), a Washington, DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy. He is a frequent guest on BBC, CBC, and CTV. He holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Toronto. Bruno has worked abroad as a United Nations officer in Libya. @TheAlessandrist

Ali Bakeer

Dr. Ali Bakeer (@AliBakeer) is a political analyst with a Ph.D. in political science/IR. He writes regularly in several Arabic, Turkish and English platforms, most recently in ones such as Al-monitor, Al-Jazeera English, Carnegie MEC, MEI, TRT World, The New Turkey, Daily Sabah, and others. Dr. Bakeer is mostly interested in geopolitical and security trends in the Middle East with a particular focus on Turkey, Iran, and GCC.

Ali Demirdas

Dr. Ali Demirdas was a Fulbright scholar and received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of South Carolina. After graduation, he taught Middle East politics, and international affairs at the College of Charleston, SC. His articles have been have been translated into seven languages and published in the National Interest, the Jerusalem Post, and the Wise Men Center of Strategic Studies. @DemirdasPhD

Anchal Vohra

Anchal Vohra is a Beirut-based journalist and analyst covering the Middle East and South Asia. She is a Freelance TV Correspondent for Al Jazeera English and regularly writes for Foreign Policy magazine. @anchalvohra

Andreas Paraskevopoulos

Anthony Laurita

Austin Bodetti

Austin Bodetti has spent five years conducting research on the Greater Middle East. As a journalist, he interviewed militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Taliban, reported from Iraq and South Sudan, and wrote for The Daily Beast, USA Today, Vice, and Wired. In more recent years, Austin has lived in Morocco as a Fulbright Scholar and Oman as a participant in the SALAM Program. He has studied Arabic and Persian.

Bridgett Neff

Bridgett Neff is an intern at Gulf State Analytics.

Calvin Dark

Calvin Dark, a former Fulbright Scholar to Morocco, is president of CD Global Strategies Group in Washington, DC, and a regular TV commentator on US and international affairs.

Charles Kestenbaum

Cinzia Bianco

Cinzia Bianco (@Cinzia_Bianco) is an advisor at Gulf State Analytics

CJ Werleman

CJ Werleman is a journalist, published author, political commentator, analyst on conflict and terrorism, and activist who has dedicated his career to exposing discrimination and injustices against Muslim communities around the world. Twitter: @cjwerleman

Daniel Noonan

Daniel Wagner

Daniel Wagner is the CEO of Country Risk Solutions and an advisor at Gulf State Analytics.

Diana Partridge

Diana is a Ph.D. Candidate in Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she researches social movements in the Middle East and North Africa. She has extensive experience in the region, having lived in Morocco, the West Bank, and Syria. Diana earned an MA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; an MA in International Affairs from Sciences Po Paris; and BAs in French and Political Science from the University of Arizona.

Dr. Bulent Aras

Dr. Bulent Aras is a senior scholar and the coordinator of the Conflict Resolution and Mediation stream at Istanbul Policy Center, Sabanci University and a visiting professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has published extensively on foreign policy, state, social movements, and Islam in Turkey, the Middle East, and Eurasia. He was head of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Center for Strategic Research (SAM) from 2009 to 2013. He has also taught in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Istanbul Technical University and in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sabanci University. In 2010, he was senior visiting professor of Turkish Studies at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford. He was a research scholar at the Paris-based European Union Institute of Security Studies in the summer of 2004, at Oxford University’s St. Anthony’s College in 2003, and at Indiana University’s Center for Eurasian Studies in 1998.

Dr. Sahar Khamis

Dr. Sahar Khamis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an expert on Arab and Muslim media, and the former Head of the Mass Communication Department in Qatar University. Dr. Khamis holds a Ph.D. in Mass Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Manchester in England. She is a former Mellon Islamic Studies Initiative Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago. She is the co-author of the books: Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). She is the co-editor of the book: Arab Women’s Activism and Socio-Political Transformation: Unfinished Gendered Revolutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). She authored and co-authored numerous book chapters, journal articles and conference papers, regionally and internationally, in both English and Arabic. She is the recipient of a number of prestigious academic and professional awards and a member of the editorial boards of several journals in the field of communication, in general, and the field of Arab and Muslim media, in particular. Dr. Khamis is a media commentator and analyst, a public speaker, a radio host, and a former human rights commissioner. She can be reached on Twitter at @skhamis.

Elisabeth R. Myers

Elisabeth R. Myers is an American lawyer, law professor, consultant, and advisor based in Marrakech, Morocco. She has more than 25 years of experience in law, business, and journalism. Elisabeth was formerly an equity partner in a 600+ lawyer firm and has held key positions in her Section of the American Bar Association. She has appeared on Al Jazeera, MEdi1 TV and Morocco’s official TV channel SNRT, Public Radio International, Sirius XM Radio, and Radio Sputnik. She is an adjunct Associate Professor of Law at American University’s Washington College of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree. She holds a BA (summa cum laude) from Hunter College of the City University of New York. Elisabeth served as the founding Editor-in-Chief of Inside Arabia from April 2018 to December 2019. @Semibrief

Fuad Shahbazov

Giorgio Cafiero

Giorgio Cafiero (@GiorgioCafiero) is the CEO of Gulf State Analytics (@GulfStateAnalyt), a Washington, D.C.-based geopolitical risk consultancy.

Hajar Hamdaoui

Hajar Hamdaoui is a Moroccan journalist. She received her BA in Journalism and Communication from l’Institut Supérieur de l’Information et de la Communication (Journalism Institute in Rabat). She received her MA in Media and Cultural Studies from Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar. She is currently a Ph.D. researcher in Mohammed V University of Rabat, in the field of Media and Communication.

Hamidreza Azizi

Hamidreza Azizi is an assistant professor of Regional Studies at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran and a non-resident fellow at Iran and Eurasia Studies Institute (IRAS). His research interests include Iran’s foreign policy, regional security and geopolitics of the Middle East and Eurasia. Twitter: @HamidRezaAz

Hamza Bailla

Hamza Bailla is a Moroccan freelance journalist and researcher. He holds a master's degree in Communication in Contexts: Culture and Dialogue from the University of Moulay Ismail in Meknes, Morocco. He is interested in digital media, politics, migration, and interfaith dialogue. @Hamzabailla

Helal Aljamra

A Yemeni journalist, graduated from Sana'a University, Media Faculty in 2008 and has worked in the Yemeni press since 2007. He worked as an editor for the Yemeni newspaper Al-Nida. In 2010 he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the same newspaper. He co-founded the Yemeni Parliamentary Observatory and worked as a press editor for the Al Marsad website in 2009. He carried out numerous investigations and worked on the enforced disappearance cases during the Yemeni wars (Saada war 2009-2010), which provoked great reactions as well as press inquiries about Yemeni prisons and abuses. He was awarded the second best news article Award at the 12th session of a competition organized by the Center for Arab Women for Training and Research «Kawther», based in Tunisia in 2014. Participated in a number of specialized training courses in the field of journalism as well as the preparation and conducting of investigations. He holds a Master's Degree in Political Communication from the Higher Institute of Media and Communication in Rabat in 2018.

Hodna Gharsallah

Hodna Bentali Gharsallah Nuernberg holds an MA in Francophone World Studies and an MFA in Literary Translation, both from the University of Iowa. Her translations from the French and the Arabic have appeared in Anomaly, Asymptote, QLRS, Two Lines, and elsewhere. Hodna lives in Morocco, where she serves as an editor-at-large for Asymptote and works as a translator for film and TV.

Ilan Pappe

Dr. Ilan Pappé is Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in England. Ilan Pappé obtained his BA degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1979 and PhD from the University of Oxford in 1984. He founded and directed the Academic Institute for Peace in Givat Haviva, Israel between 1992 to 2000 and was the Chair of the Emil Tuma Institute for Palestine Studies in Haifa between 2000 and 2006. Professor Pappé was a senior lecturer in the department of Middle Eastern History and the Department of Political Science in Haifa University, Israel between 1984 and 2006. He was appointed as chair in the department of History in the Cornwall Campus, 2007-2009 and became a fellow of the IAIS in 2010. His research focuses on the modern Middle East and in particular the history of Israel and Palestine. He has also written on multiculturalism, Critical Discourse Analysis and on Power and Knowledge in general. Ilan Pappé is the author of 20 books of which the groundbreaking “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” is the best known. @pappe54

Inside Arabia

Ismail El Ouadi

Ismail El Ouadi is a journalist at Inside Arabia with a Master’s degree in Translation from the King Fahd School of Translation in Tangier, Morocco. As an interpreter and writer, he loves to discuss all things related to nature, culture, and society.

James M. Dorsey

Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He is also a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture in Germany.

Jean AbiNader

Jean AbiNader is a long-time analyst of US-Middle East relations and development issues in the Arab world. His broad experience in intercultural communications throughout the MENA region gives him a unique perspective on social and political matters. He resides in Washington, DC. @jeanabinader

Jonathan Fenton-Harvey

Jonathan is a journalist and researcher focusing on conflict and geopolitics in the Middle East and North Africa region. He has particularly covered Gulf issues and Western foreign policy in the region, having delivered numerous talks and articles on these topics. He has been published in Carnegie Endowment, Middle East Eye, the New Arab, TRT World and many others. He has also worked for Al Sharq Forum, where he mostly researched the UAE's regional foreign policy. A graduate of the University of Exeter, Jonathan studied History and Middle East Studies. @jfentonharvey

Julia Schwartz

Julia Schwartz is an English teacher in Rabat. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in French Literature from Grinnell College, where she also studied Arabic, she worked first with infants at a day-care and then as a preschool teacher. She moved to Morocco in 2017 in order to continue studying Arabic, focusing on Moroccan Darija as well as Modern Standard Arabic. She currently combines her passions for child development and language acquisition in her English-teaching job. Julia’s other areas of interest include poetry and literature, psychoanalysis, and sociolinguistics.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen is a Fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston and a Senior Advisor at Gulf State Analytics (@GulfStateAnalyt), a Washington, DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy. @Dr_Ulrichsen

Marcus Chenevix

Marcus Chenevix is a consultant and lead analyst for the MENA region at TS Lombard, a global macroeconomic research firm based in London, New York, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. He is currently studying for an MA in Arab studies at the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, Washington DC. He lived in London and Cairo and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from Cambridge University. His research focuses on economic development in the Arab World. Marcus speaks English, French, Arabic, and Turkish. Twitter: @Mchenevix

Martin Jay

Martin Jay is an award winning freelance journalist who has previously worked and lived in Kenya, Belgium and Morocco – reporting for CNN, Euronews, CNBC, BBC, DW, Reuters, Sunday Times and others. Currently he lives in Beirut where has reported for DW, AP, TRT, RT and the UK national Mail on Sunday. He can be followed on Twitter at @MartinRJay

Maysam Behravesh

Maysam Behravesh is a senior political analyst at Persis Media and a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden. Follow him on Twitter @MaysamBehravesh.

Maysam Bizaer

Maysam Bizaer is an Iranian political and economic writer and analyst. He has worked for various Iranian media and has been a contributor to several foreign media outlets, including Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English, TRT World, and Bourse & Bazaar, among others. Twitter: @m_bizar

Menna Farouk

Menna Farouk is a Cairo-based reporter. Her work appeared in Thomson Reuters Foundation, Deutsche Welle, Al-Monitor, Entrepreneur Magazine, News Deeply among others. @MennaFarouk91

Mohammed Ajrinija

Nada Fayad

Nada Fayad is a journalist and has worked with a number of news and media organizations. She has a B.A. in Mass Media Communication from George Mason University.

Omar al-Nidawi

Omar Al-Nidawi is the Program Manager at Enabling Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) since June 2019, where he is in charge of developing and overseeing the organization’s research and monitoring initiatives. Omar is also a Truman National Security Fellow and a guest lecturer on Iraq’s modern history and politics at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. Prior to joining EPIC, Omar managed the Iraq portfolio at Gryphon Partners, a strategic advisory firm in Washington DC, where he focused on advisory services concerning Iraqi energy, political and security affairs. In his native Iraq, Omar was a pioneer of Internet journalism and a strong advocate for freedom of expression, earning recognition by World PC Magazine in 2007 as one of the “50 most important people on the web.” Omar is the author of numerous articles and reports on Iraq and has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, War on the Rocks, and various other publications. He earned his B.D.S. from Baghdad University and his M.I.A. from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. @omar_nidawi

Omar Zanifi

Omar Zanifi is an Amazigh (Berber) writer, poet, artist, activist, and journalist. Known as a “knight of the pen,” he has written for local, national and international magazines, digital publications, and newspapers on subjects ranging from politics and travel to the arts. He has a Masters degree in English literature from Ibn Zohr University in Agadir, Morocco, and a Masters in journalism from the Lahaye University for Journalism in Den Haag, Netherlands. He is based in Paris. @Zanifi    https://www.facebook.com/omarzanifi/

Omid Shokri Kalehsar

Omid Shokri Kalehsar is a Washington-based Senior Energy Security Analyst, and PhD Candidate in International Relations at Yalova University, Turkey. His research fields include Energy Diplomacy, U.S. Energy Policy, the Geopolitics of Energy, Iran-Turkey relations, and Iran-Russia relations. Follow him at @ushukrik

Oumaima Fassi Fihri

Oumaima Fassi Fihri is a journalist based in Morocco. She holds a BA in International Studies and specializes in International Relations and African and Asian Studies.

Paola Garcia

Paola García is a writer, dancer, and translator based in New York City. Originally from Northern Mexico, and a New York City denizen for fifteen years, Paola has lived and traveled in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa over the past decade. She deeply loves the Arabic language, poetry, music, dances, cultures and, principally, peoples. Paola is a passionate student of Sufism and Islamic philosophy. She is a UNESCO-certified Sufi dance teacher and performs regularly in venues such as Alwan for the Arts, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, MANA Contemporary, and the Outlet Dance Project. A graduate of Columbia Law School and former lawyer, she received an M.A. in Islamic Studies from Columbia University in the Fall of 2018. She enjoys horseback riding, yoga, and spending time in nature, especially in the Riviera Maya and the Sahara Desert.

Radha Stirling

Radha Stirling is the Founder and CEO of Detained in Dubai, a human rights advocacy group that promotes judicial and legal reform. She is also an expert witness and criminal & civil justice expert in the areas of extradition and Interpol removal. She handles crisis management, mediation, and reputation management for celebrity & high profile clients.

Ramona Wadi

Ramona Wadi is a freelance journalist, book reviewer and blogger. Her work covers a range of subjects in relation to Palestine, Latin America (particularly Chile), anti-colonial struggle, indigenous rights, and collective memory. Ramona writes for Middle East Monitor, The New Arab, The Wry Ronin, Strategic Culture Foundation, Eureka Street, The Muslim Vibe, and Bella Caledonia. Other bylines include Mint Press News, Middle East Eye, TRT World, Telesur English, The Seattle Globalist, The Palestine Chronicle, The Arab Weekly, Toward Freedom, The Region, Waging Nonviolence, and several others. @walzerscent

Saltanat Berdikeeva

Saltanat Berdikeeva is a consultant and writer whose work on energy and security issues in Eurasia, the Middle East, and the U.S. has been published extensively. Her articles have been featured in Energy Digital, European Energy Review, National Geographic, Platts, Oil and Gas Journal, Insight Turkey, ISN, local newspapers, and other publications.

Sami Hamdi

Sami Hamdi is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Interest, an experienced foreign policy adviser, and seasoned consultant who has advised governments and global companies on the geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East. @SALHACHIMI

Samia Bouzid

Sarah Abdallah

Sarah Abdallah is a Ph.D. student in linguistics and communication, with degrees in law, political science, and linguistic engineering. She is a translator and media consultant with the International Journalists' Network (IJNet), contributor at al-Monitor and was a senior editor with Lebanon24. @sarabdallah90

Sarah El-Sheikh

Sarah Goodman

Sarah Goodman is a freelance writer and photographer based in Rabat.

Sebastian Bouknight

Sebastian Bouknight is an American journalist and photographer based in North Africa. With a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary background, he reports on the arts, migration, human rights, and environmental issues.

Selena Rincon

Selena Rincon studied Middle Eastern Studies and French Literature at Harvard University with focus on the North Africa region. She currently teaches English in Rabat, Morocco.

Shazia Marquis

Shazia Marquis holds an LLB in Law and an LLM majoring in Public International Law from Queen Mary University of London. Her interests include international relations, migration law and general politics. She is currently based in the United Arab Emirates.

Soukaina Rachidi

Soukaina Rachidi is a writer and analyst on the Middle East and North Africa. Soukaina was born in Morocco but spent most of her formative years in the United Arab Emirates. She also lived in Qatar, the USA, and Argentina. Soukaina is a graduate in International Relations from the University of Delaware.

staff writer

Stasa Salacanin

Stasa Salacanin is a published author and analyst covering a broad range of topics related to the Greater Middle East and Europe. He writes for several newspapers and media outlets on Middle Eastern and European affairs, Gulf matters, trade and political relations, oil and gas sector, aviation, hospitality, terrorism, and defense as well as other international relations and geopolitical subjects. His articles appear in Al Jazeera Center for Studies, the New Arab, Qantara (Deutsche Welle), Gulf News, Gulf State News, Qatar Today, and Middle East Monitor among others.

Theodore Karasik

Dr. Theodore Karasik (@TKarasik) is a Senior Advisor at Gulf State Analytics (@GulfStateAnalyt). He is also a fellow at Jamestown Foundation and a non-resident senior fellow at the Lexington Institute. Dr. Karasik was an adjunct lecturer at the Dubai School of Government where he taught graduate level international relations. Karasik was a senior political scientist in the International Policy and Security Group at RAND Corporation. From 2002-2003, he served as director of research for the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy. He is a specialist in geopolitics and geoeconomics for the MENA and Eurasia regions and frequently conducts studies and assessments of future trajectories. Dr. Karasik received his Ph.D in history from the University of California, Los Angeles in four fields: Russia, Middle East, Caucasus, and an outside field in cultural anthropology focusing on tribes and clans from Central Asia to East Africa.

Timothy Hucks

Timothy Hucks is an editor at Inside Arabia. He graduated Andrews University in Michigan in 2014 with a Bachelor's of Art in English Literature.

Tom Pollitt

Tom Pollitt has an Undergraduate MA in Philosophy from The University of St Andrews and Aarhus Universitet, a Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP University, and an LLM in International Law from SOAS, University of London. A UK citizen, Tom covers politics and culture from across the MENA region.

Tristan Ober

Tristan Ober is an intern at Gulf State Analytics.

Wafa Hallam

Wafa Faith Hallam is a Moroccan-American who lived and worked in Europe and traveled to over 35 countries before attending college in Gainesville, FL. An Honor Graduate of the University of Florida (Phi Beta Kappa), she was awarded a series of Fellowships to attend New York University where she earned a Master's Degree in Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs. She completed the PhD course work in Middle Eastern Studies, as well as comprehensive exams. She was granted a Dissertation Fellowship for her research on Political Violence and Terrorism in the MENA Region by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation in Manhattan. She remained committed to Peace and Conflict Resolution in the Middle East and Arab-Muslim Issues even as she built a successful career on Wall Street for over a decade. In 2017 and 2018, she traveled alone to 15 new countries in South America, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Wafa is a writer, editor, speaker and author of The Road from Morocco, a memoir.

Wajahat Ali

Wajahat Ali is a journalist, writer, lawyer, award-winning playwright, TV host and former consultant for the U.S. State Department.

Yasmine Oubahi

Yasmine Oubahi is a Moroccan journalist specializing in migration and immigration issues. She is currently pursuing her MA in Media and Migration at ISIC (L’Institut Supérieur de l’Information et de la Communication) in Rabat, Morocco, and holds a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication also from ISIC. Dedicated to written and visual storytelling to advance human rights including those of immigrants, refugees, and women, she has a strong desire to make the voices of vulnerable groups heard. Yasmine speaks Arabic, Moroccan Berber, French, English, and Spanish, and is currently a volunteer in the African Union Youth Envoy (OYE).

Yousef H. Alshammari

Yousef H. Alshammari is a Kuwaiti writer and journalist based in Washington D.C. with a focus on international politics and culture. Alshammari is completing a master's degree in Journalism and Public Affairs at American University. When not writing about politics, Alshammari enjoys working on creative nonfiction. @YousefWryRonin

Youssef El Kaidi

Youssef El Kaidi is a professor of English at the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, Sais-Fes. He has a PhD in Cultural Studies: Cultures and Identities in Morocco from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fes. He is an Alumnus of the University of the Middle East Project since July 2011. In 2013, he became a member of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) international network of young leaders and academic researchers after participating in the New Faces Conference in Tunis, Tunisia, and in the DGAP Alumni Conference in Berlin, Germany. Youssef is also a graduate of the International Centre on Non-violent Conflict after his participation in the Fletcher Summer School on Non-violent Resistance at Tufts University, Boston, in June 2014. In July 2017, he participated in the Oleander Initiative for Peace in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. His areas of interest are translation and cross-cultural communication, journalism, media studies, and peace and non-violence studies.

Youssef Igrouane

Youssef Igrouane is a Moroccan journalist and researcher. He holds a master's degree in European Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Europe in Belgium. He focuses on the geopolitical and sociopolitical issues in the MENA region and Euro-Mediterranean relations.