Authors

Dania Thafer

Dr Dania Thafer is the founding Executive Director of Gulf International Forum, an institute based in Washington, DC, that provides analysis on political, economic, social, and security issues for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. She is also a Professorial Lecturer at the School of Foreign Service’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. Her expertise is on the Gulf region’s security, US-Gulf relations, and the political economy of the GCC states.

Dr Thafer has been widely published and consults regularly on matters concerning the GCC and the Middle East. She has a new book titled Creative Insecurity: Institutional Inertia and Youth Potential in the GCC published by Oxford University Press and Hurst Co. (2023). Additionally, she has co-authored two edited books, The Arms Trade, Military Services and the Security Market in the Gulf States: Trends and Implications and The Dilemma of Security and Defense in the Gulf Region. Her most recent journal article,  titled “State Autonomy, Economic Reform & Business Elite Influence in the GCC,” was published with the New Political Economy (2024). Her commentary has appeared in international media outlets, including The New York Times, Financial Times, BBC World, Washington Post, Forbes, CNBC, BBCandothers. Additionally, she is regularly consulted by governmental, non-governmental, corporations, and research institutions globally.

Previously, Dr Thafer was responsible for building relationships with foreign dignitaries from the Middle East at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, DC. She has a master’s degree in political science from New York University and a PhD in Political Science, specialized in political economy and international relations, from American University in Washington, DC.

ARTICLES BY Dania Thafer