Ali Bakir is a Research Assistant Professor at Qatar University’s Ibn Khaldon Center. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the “Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative” and Middle East programs at the Washington-based Atlantic Council as well as Middle East Council on Global Affairs, Qatar. As a senior foreign policy and security analyst and consultant, Bakir has over 15 years of professional experience working with senior officials, decision-makers, and stakeholders for governmental, non-governmental, and private sector institutions. Before joining Qatar University, he served as a Senior Adviser at Qatar’s Embassy in Ankara, the Head of the “Gulf Studies Unit” at the Middle East Studies Center, Senior Researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies of the International Strategic Research Organization, and a Researcher and Senior Editor at (AIWA) Group for defense and economy.
Bakir writes extensively in English, Arabic, and Turkish platforms on the geopolitical and security trends in the MENA region, with a particular focus on Turkey’s foreign and defense policies, Turkey- Arab/Gulf relations, and Gulf security. His research interests include great power politics in the Middle East, small states’ behavior, and emerging unconventional risks and threats. He had his education, fieldwork, and work experience in several countries, including Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Qatar.