Experts on countries of origin by country

Expertise on religion and politics in a number of African, Asian and Latin American countries - and in a number of languages. Current research includes China (Tibet), Chile, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe; Libya and Syria

Dr. Ali is a leading authority on Middle Eastern law and politics, known for combining deep regional knowledge with sharp legal and political analysis. He works at the intersection of courts, policy, and academia, advising on some of the most complex and sensitive issues facing the region. His expertise spans constitutional law, conflict, governance, and international accountability, grounded in long experience with real-world cases and institutions. He is especially valued for his ability to explain complicated Middle Eastern realities clearly, persuasively, and with credibility.

Goal-focused, strategic planner, and passionate leader with extensive experience implementing effective, global strategies to stabilize communities through capacity building, promoting human rights and democratization, and amplifying the value of communication. Skilled in collaborating with all members of the organization to build bridges across ideological divides, trusted to tailor language, tone, style, and format to match the audience. Passionate educator with two years’ experience as a High School Principal. Proactively pursues the development and execution of ethical leadership, personnel management, and clear research/discovery goals with comprehensive plans delivering measurable impact to in-house operations. 

An accomplished expert in Lebanese, Levantine, and MENA law, politics, and culture, Dr. Isaac Andakian brings extensive experience and a proven track record in political advisory roles. From 2001 to 2009, Dr. Andakian served as a trusted senior political adviser to two members of the Lebanese Parliament and a minister in the Lebanese cabinet. Over nine years, he counseled the Armenian Orthodox Community Court of Lebanon and the Municipality of the City of Anjar, Lebanon, from 2003 to 2012.

During Dr. Andakian’s… Read more

Dr. Daanish Faruqi is a Visiting Researcher at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.  A scholar of migration and mobility in the Middle East and North Africa, he has leveraged his expertise both in academia and in international development. At Georgetown he researches democracy promotion and conflict resolution through transnational religious humanitarianism. His latest writing deals with the viability of religious humanitarianism in effectively managing refugee crises.  He has a recent interview with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on this project and its potential for peace building. A specialist on contemporary Syria, he also writes regularly commentary on post-Assad Syria, for popular venues like TRT World, al-Jumhuriyya, and others.

He completed his Ph.D. from Duke University, where he wrote his dissertation on the role of Syrian Sufi religious scholars in joining the 2011 uprising against Bashar al-Assad. Through several years of ethnographic and historical fieldwork in Morocco, Turkey, and Jordan, conducting hundreds of Arabic-language interviews, his work revealed the role of 19th century migration… Read more

The Expert is a human rights researcher currently working as a Research Fellow at the University of Hull and as a consultant for human rights organizations. 

They have wide-ranging knowledge of historical and ongoing human rights violations globally, involving both civil & political and economic, social & cultural rights. 

The Expert’s current academic specialism focuses on the role of climate change and natural disasters in undermining the human rights of refugees and migrants. 

Dr. Shaul Gabbay completed a BA at Bar Ilan University and an MA at Tel-Aviv University. In 1991 he received a Presidential Fellowship from the U.S. to continue his studies. In 1995 he completed the PhD program at Columbia University in New York and received an invitation from the University of Chicago for a Post Doctoral program. In 1998 Dr. Gabbay returned to Israel to join the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Professor Gabbay joined the University of Denver as the Director of the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in 2001- 2010.  He continued his research at DU as a Senior Scholar until 2015 when he was appointed Director of the Global Research Institute.

His areas of expertise include Middle East cultures and societal norms,   Middle East conflicts, and human rights issues existing in Muslim societies.  He is regularly cited and acts as a commentator in national and international media such as the Associated Press, CBS, NBC, FOX and MSNBC.

Nell Gabiam is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Political science at Iowa State University. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. She is the author of The Politics of Suffering: Syria’s Palestinian Refugee Camps, which was published in May 2016 by Indiana University Press. While her earlier research focused on the politics of humanitarianism and development in Palestinian refugee camps, her more recent research focuses on Palestinians displaced by the ongoing Syrian war and has taken her to Jordan, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, France, Sweden, and Germany.

Academic with expertise on many countries in the Middle East; has extensive experience providing expert reports, including nationality assessment and document authentication reports.

Independent researcher. Country expert reports, nationality assessment, language analysis, Gender-based violence, Ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East, and Document authentication.

Dr. Antonio Giustozzi is a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). He took his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is the author of several articles and papers on Afghanistan, as well as of seven books, War, politics and society in Afghanistan, 1978-1992 (Georgetown University Press), Koran, Kalashnikov and laptop: the Neo-Taliban insurgency, 2002-7 (Columbia University Press), Empires of mud: war and warlords in Afghanistan (Columbia University Press), Policing Afghanistan (with M. Ishaqzada, Columbia University Press, 2013), The army of Afghanistan (Hurst, 2016), the Islamic State in Khorasan (Hurst, 2018 and II ed 2022) and Taliban at war (OUP USA, 2019 and II ed. 2022). He also authored a volume on the role of coercion and violence in state-building, The Art of Coercion (Columbia University Press, 2011), one on advisory missions (Missionaries of modernity, Hurst, 2016), one on Jihadism in Pakistan (IB Tauris, 2023) and edited a volume on the Taliban, Decoding the New Taliban (Columbia University Press, 2009), featuring contributions by specialists from different backgrounds. He contributes regularly to the media and to periodical publications. In the past he worked among else as a consultant for the EUSR… Read more

Audra Grant works at the intersection of conflict, human rights, and governance in fragile, conflict-affected settings in the Middle East and Africa. As an international development professional and subject matter expert at NORC, her projects addressed diverse issues affecting vulnerable populations, from human rights, illicit trade, extremism, and organized crime to child labor and youth recruitment into violence. Audra has over 20 years of experience as a practitioner, security and policy professional and academic and has worked in nearly every country in the Middle East and North Africa and also in over 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing policy and program advice to the USG, private sector, and international donors. She held senior positions at RAND and was a career analyst at the U.S. Department of State / INR. A former assistant professor at University Al-Akhawayn, Ifrane, Morocco, she is a Senior Lecturer at The George Washington University. Audra is also an advisor for the Women’s Ambassador Foundation, Howard University, and reviewer for the Journal of Peace and Development and Contemporary Review of the Middle East. 

The Expert is a Lecturer in Comparative Politics and International Relations of the Middle East. 

Extensive experience in expert reports on all the countries listed, and also in particular, Kurds in country of origin and diaspora

Dr. Basem Mahmud is a Syrian-Spanish sociologist specializing in emotions, forced migration, and post-conflict recovery, with deep expertise in Syria’s social and cultural contexts. Born and raised in Syria, his lived experience enriches his academic and applied research, providing nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by displaced populations. He holds a PhD in Sociology, supported by a DAAD fellowship, and was awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship for postdoctoral research on refugee labor and structural inequalities in the global economy. His work bridges academic research and practical field applications through partnerships with international organizations, civil society, and research institutes. He focuses on key issues such as transitional justice, civic engagement, community resilience, victim-centered documentation, and social reconstruction in Syria and similar post-conflict settings. Fluent in Arabic, English, and Spanish, Dr. Basem Mahmud combines advanced qualitative and mixed-methods research skills with deep contextual knowledge. He is committed to collaborating on evidence-based projects that foster social transformation and sustainable recovery. Clients can expect strategic research insights, expert project leadership,… Read more

Hugh Miles is an Arabic and French speaking journalist who has been living in Cairo for most of the past 20 years researching and writing about all aspects of Arab society and culture. Since 2004 Miles has covered news in North Africa and the Middle East region professionally for diverse international media including the BBC, Al Jazeera, New York Times, Telegraph, Guardian, London Review of Books, Mirror, Mail, Sun and many others. He is a contributor to the Global Organized Crime Index designed to assess levels of organised crime in 193 UN member states and gives regular, ongoing training sessions to the UK FCDO about organised crime in the Middle East as well as, separately, the media environment in the Middle East.

Miles is the founder of Arab Digest, an independent UK ltd. media company specialising in Arab affairs. Arab Digest is an online private members club where business leaders and regional experts discuss the latest developments in the Middle East and North Africa each day. Paying members include the United Nations, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, The Economist, Oxford University, King’s College London University, Princeton University, BAE, Chevron and many more. 

I am an international practitioner working across Africa and the Middle East, supporting complex cross-border and regional matters. My work is grounded in practical experience, cultural awareness, and careful judgment in sensitive situations.

Kawa Morad (MA, PhD) is a lecturer in social anthropology, based in Exeter, with a focus on forced migration and/in the Middle East. He has extensive experience in providing language analysis and country expert reports on internal displacement, gender-based violence, medical/psychiatric care and access, statelessness, LGBTQ+ communities and others in Syria, Iraq, and Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

CEO and founder at Xsolutions Ltd, is an experienced advocate in the appellate court of Egypt. With over 12 years of practice, they specialize in various legal areas, including Egyptian Civil Law, human rights, domestic abuse, trade regulations, criminal law, and Sharea (Islamic Law). They collaborate closely with lawyers, judges, and the Ministry of Interior on national security and civil registration cases. Additionally, they provide reports related to human rights, asylum, gender violence, and political persecution.

I am an expert on Syria, Iraq, and Iran with eight years of experience as an Army intelligence officer and six years as a senior political and security risk analyst for companies, governments, NGOs, and insurers. I was interviewed by Matthew Wright on LBC about the fate and ambitions of Iranian Kurds exiled in Iraq. My work was cited in reports by the US congress, the government of Spain, the Counter-Terrorism Centre of Excellence (funded by Germany and the UNODC), Voice of America, and others. My reports are recognised for being clear, concise and evidence based. I also produce bespoke maps that illustrate armed group activity and risk zones, making complex dynamics readily accessible.

Criminologist and gender expert with over 15 years’ experience advising the United Nations, academia, and international organisations on gender justice, conflict sensitivity, social inclusion, and the protection of vulnerable populations across Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Ukraine, and the wider Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Specialist in gender-based violence, policing and security services, prisons and the criminal justice sector, women’s and children’s rights, and victim-centred approaches. Demonstrated ability to operate in politically sensitive and fragile contexts and to author reports for ministries, private sector clients, and UN entities. Fluent in Arabic and Ukrainian.