Contributors

Abdel Bari Atwan is the editor-in-chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

Abeer Ayyoub graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with a BA in English literature. She is a former human rights researcher turned journalist whose work has appeared in Al Masry Al-Youm, Al Jazeera and Haaretz.

Adnan Abu Amer is dean of the Faculty of Arts and head of the Press and Information Section as well as a lecturer in the history of the Palestinian issue, national security, political science and Islamic civilization at Al Ummah University Open Education. He holds a doctorate in political history from the Demashq University and has published a number of books on issues related to the contemporary history of the Palestinian cause and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Ahmad Azem is the director of Palestine and Arabic Studies at Birzeit University.

Ahmed Ali M. al-Mukhaini, the former assistant secretary-general for the Shura Council in Oman, is an independent researcher in politics, human rights and dialogue.

Ahmed Ateyya is a Cairo-based, award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. He is the co-founder of Wojood Media, a documentary production company, and the assignment manager of ElWatan news portal. On Twitter: @ateyya

Ahmed al-Omran is a Saudi blogger and journalist. You can read more of his work on his site Riyadh Bureau, and you can follow him on Twitter: @ahmed

Alaa al-Aswany is an Egyptian writer and a prominent member of the Egyptian Movement for Change, Kefaya. Al-Aswany currently writes a weekly column for Al-Masry Al-Youm and his political articles have been featured in The Guardian, The New York Times and Le Monde. His 2002 novel, The Yacoubian Building, has been translated into 27 languages and was nominated by US Newsday in 2006 as the most important translated novel in the United States.

Al-Aswany is a board member of the Doha Center for Media Freedom and in 2011 he topped the Foreign Policy list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. 

Ali Abdel Sadah is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. A writer and journalist from Baghdad, he has worked in both Iraqi and Arab media, managing the editorial department of a number of local newspapers and working as a political and cultural reporter for over ten years. He has been published in various newspapers and magazines covering Iraqi political affairs, human rights and civil society.

Ali Abdulameer is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. A writer, journalist and TV presenter residing in Amman and Washington, he was editor-in-chief of a number of cultural magazines and Iraqi newspapers, and was the managing editor of Iraqi news in the Arabic-language American Al-Hurrah. Abdulameer presented a show entitled "Seven Days" from 2004 to 2010. He is currently working as a correspondent for Al-Hayat.

Ali Abel Sadah is a Baghdad-based writer for both Iraqi and Arab media. He has been a managing editor for local newspapers as well as a political and cultural reporter for more than 10 years.

Dr. Ali Rashid al-Noaimi is an Emirati academic. He tweets at @dralnoaimi. 

At times, Al-Monitor withholds the bylines of our correspondents for the protection of our authors. Different authors may have written the individual stories identified on this page.

At times, Al-Monitor withholds the bylines of our correspondents for the protection of our authors. Different authors may have written the individual stories identified on this page.

At times, Al-Monitor withholds the bylines of our correspondents for the protection of our authors. Different authors may have written the individual stories identified on this page.

Asmaa al-Ghoul is a journalist and writer from the Rafah refugee camp based in Gaza.

Bushra Al Mudhafar is a writer and journalist from Baghdad working in both Iraqi and Arab media. After working as a broadcast journalist for an international television station, she now works for a local channel. She has also worked for international organizations including IWPR, and has published political reports in a variety of media.

Charlotte Alfred is a freelance journalist and former editor at Ma'an News Agency.

Farea Al-muslimi is a Yemeni youth activist, writer and free-lancer. His writings have appeared in Al-Monitor, The National, Foreign Policy, Assafir and many other regional and international media outlets. He tweets at @AlMuslimi.

Fatemeh Aman has monitored and written on Iranian, Afghan and other Middle East affairs for over 13 years. She has worked and published as a journalist  and  anchor  for  RFE/RL and Voice  of America and is a frequent contributor on Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan for Jane’s publications, including Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst and Jane’s Intelligence Review. She is a frequent lecturer for various US government and non-government audiences on Iran and Afghanistan. She is also a regular voice in various Persian and English-language media outlets, including the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2008, she founded Global Media Trail, where she is the chief technical officer.

Father Johnny Abu Khalil is a Roman Catholic priest and the head of a parish in Nablus, West Bank.

Gamal Abuel Hassan is an Egyptian freelance journalist who writes on regional and foreign-policy issues. He writes a weekly column for Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt's leading daily newspaper.

Geoffrey Aronson has long been active in Track II diplomatic efforts on various Middle East issues. He writes widely on regional affairs.

Harith al-Qarawee is an Iraqi scholar and author of Imagining the Nation: Nationalism, Sectarianism, and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq. He tweets @harith_hasan.

Jean Aziz is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Lebanon Pulse. He is a columnist at the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar and the host of a weekly political talk show on OTV, a Lebanese TV station. He also teaches communications at the American University of Technology and the Université Saint-Esprit De Kaslik in Lebanon.

Jihan Abdalla is a Palestinian freelance journalist and television producer based in Jerusalem.

Karabekir Akkoyunlu is a doctoral candidate at the London School of Economics, where he researches political change in Turkey and Iran and teaches classes on democratization and Middle East politics. His latest work is The Western Condition: Turkey, the US and the EU in the New Middle East, a detailed analysis of the last decade of Turkish foreign policy and its immediate prospects, co-authored with Kalypso Nicolaïdis and Kerem Öktem and recently published by South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX).

Karim Amellal, a French-­Algerian author and lecturer at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, is a founder and CEO of Stand Alone Media.

Karim M. Abadir has been the chair of financial econometrics at Imperial College London since 2005. He holds a PhD from Oxford University, and his MA and BA are from the American University in Cairo. He has also taught at the American University in Cairo, University of Oxford, University of Exeter and the University of York, where he held a joint chair between the departments of mathematics and economics from 1996 to 2005 and headed the Statistics Group.

Kaveh Afrasiabi is a former political science professor at Tehran University and former advisor to Iran's nuclear-negotiation team (2004-2006).

Khalil al-Anani is a Scholar of Middle East Studies at the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University and former visiting fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the forthcoming “Unpacking the Muslim Brotherhood: Religion, Identity and Politics” (tentative title).

He can be reached at: kalanani@gmail.com On twitter: @Khalilalanani

Kourosh Avaei is a journalist and political analyst based in Europe. He has a masters degree in communications and has worked in online media in Iran as a journalist on socio-political issues. 

Linah Alsaafin is a writer and editor based in the West Bank.

Loor Awwad, born in Jerusalem and residing in Ramallah, is a recent graduate of Birzeit University.

Dr. Madawi Al-Rasheed is a professor of social anthropology at the department of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College, London. She has written extensively about the Arabian Peninsula, Arab migration, globalization and religious trans-nationalism.

Michal Aharoni is a public-relations professional, playwright and columnist. Aharoni earned her theater degree from Hakibuzim seminar in Tel Aviv, followed by a master of arts degree from Middlesex University in London. Over the past several years, she has worked as a spokeswoman for many Israeli politicians. She currently writes for Maariv and its Nrg website.  

Mushreq Abbas is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. An author and journalist who has worked in the media for 15 years, he holds a degree in political science from Baghdad University. Besides writing studies and articles that covered Iraqi crises and publishing in the local, regional and foreign media, Abbas has worked since 2003 in the Iraqi media sector and co-founded media companies. He also produced a number of documentaries for different media and has managed Al-Hayat’s office in Iraq since 2005.

Mustafa Akyol is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor's Turkey Pulse and a columnist for two Turkish newspapers, Hürriyet Daily News and Star. His articles have also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian. He studied political science and history at the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, where he still lives. His book, Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty, an argument for "Muslim liberalism," was published by W.W. Norton in July 2011. The book was described by The Financial Times as “a forthright and elegant Muslim defense of freedom."

Mustafa al-Kadhimi is an Iraqi writer specializing in defense of democracy. He has extensive experience in documenting testimony and archiving documentaries associated with repressive practices and has written many books, including Humanitarian Concerns, which was selected in 2000 by the European Union as the best book written by a refugee.

Dr. Omar Ashour is the director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Programme in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. He is a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Doha Center and the author of The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements and From Good Cop to Bad Cop: The Challenge of Security Sector Reform in Egypt. He can be reached at o.ashour@exeter.ac.uk.

Omar al-Shaher is a contributor to Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications including France’s LeMonde, the Iraqi Alesbuyia magazine, Egypt’s Al-Ahaly and the Elaph website. He previously worked for Al-Mada covering political and security affairs and as a correspondent for the Kuwaiti Awan newspaper in Baghdad.

Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political commentator based in Amman, Jordan, who specializes in Middle East issues. He can be reached at alsharif.osama@gmail.com

Rami Almeghari is an independent journalist based in Gaza. 

Rania Abouzeid is a Middle East correspondent for Time.

Reem Abbas is a Sudanese freelance journalist based in Khartoum and an award-winning blogger. She currently contributes to www.theniles.org.

Reza H. Akbari (@rezahakbari) is a Middle East researcher in Washington, DC. He received his MA in Middle East Studies from the George Washington University.

Sadia Ahsanuddin is a researcher and writer based in New York.

Saeed Aganji is an Iranian journalist, researcher and former editor-in-chief of the Saba student publication.

Saleem Al-Hasani is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. A researcher and expert on the Iraqi media and the author of various books, Al-Hasani worked as an editor of the magazine Al-Fikr al-Jadid: The New Thought. He was the adviser of Iraq's former prime inister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and is the current director of the Center for Culture and Media.

Sarmad Altaee is an Iraqi writer and journalist who has worked in different media outlets. He studied theology and hosted a popular show on the Iraqi Al-Hurra TV before he became editor-in-chief of Al-Alam newspaper in Baghdad until 2011. He writes a daily column for the Iraqi Al-Mada newspaper.

Sasan Aghlani is a doctoral candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a researcher of nuclear issues in the International Security department at London-based think tank Chatham House. He holds a bachelors degree in politics from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a masters degree in international relations from the London School of Economics.

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a commentator on Arab affairs.

Talal Alyan is a Palestinian-American freelance writer currently living in New York.

Zenobia Azeem is a Cairo-based freelance writer. She has worked in the field of international election observation for the past five years, primarily in the Middle East.

Ziad Al-Ajaili is an Iraqi journalist and press-freedom activist who has worked for various Iraqi media outlets. In 2004, he founded the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) in Iraq, the first organization to defend journalists in Iraq and monitor violations against them. He is member of the board of directors of the German Academy of Information.