Introduction

Dr Zahid Shahab Ahmed is an Associate Professor in Security and Strategic Studies, at the National Defense College of the United Arab Emirates. Prior to joining Deakin University as Senior Research Fellow in April 2016, he was an Assistant Professor at the Centre for International Peace and Stability, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan. He is a prominent commentator on Pakistan’s domestic politics and foreign policy.

Dr Ahmed has been associated with several think tanks in Islamabad, including the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and Islamabad Policy Research Institute. During 2017-19, he was a non-resident research fellow with the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy. He is a board member of the International Peace Research Association Foundation and the secretary of the South Asian Studies Association of Australia.

Dr Ahmed has Master’s degrees in Sociology and Peace Education and a PhD in International Relations. Among his publications is Regionalism and Regional Security in South Asia: The Role of SAARC (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013). He writes regularly for several news outlets, including The National Interest and Al Jazeera.

Areas of Interest and Expertise

• Pakistan’s Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy
• South Asian Geopolitics, Regionalism and Security
• Violent Extremism and Terrorism
• Political Islam