He is French political geographer renowned for his expertise in the geopolitics of Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. He has dedicated much of his academic and professional career to studying the Middle East.

Associate Professor in Political Science at Sciences Po Lyon, Director of the Diploma Program on Contemporary Arab World (DEMAC) at Sciences Po Lyon, and a researcher at the Triangle Laboratory, UMR 5206, Lyon.

Christian Taoutel is a historian and an esteemed faculty member at Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut. In 2022, he was elevated to the rank of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Republic. In 2024, he was honored as “Personality of the Month of Francophonie” by the USJ Alumni Association.

He is a senior advisor in the Kurdistan Parliament as well as a researcher and writer. His areas of interests include civil/military relations, the Middle East, regional politics, the Kurdish question and governance.

He is a lecturer at the Department of Sociology at the University of Soran. He is an associate researcher at the research department in iReMMO in Paris and in the Norbert Elias foundation in Amsterdam. He is interested in the why of genocide: why Mesopotamia and Anatolia have become a place for genocide and what is the role of the nation-state in the mass atrocities and genocide. Likewise, he is interested in the nature of extremism and the root causes of terrorism in radical movements and their relation to the different ideological schools of political Islam. His current research is concentrated on two distinct topics

She is a professor of history-geography and geopolitics in the United States. In 2018, she earned the title of analyst in international strategy, specializing in geopolitics. She is a researcher for different think tanks as well at EISMENA.

He is  a French demographer specializing in the socio-political implications of demographic change, particularly in the Arab and Muslim world. Between 1970s and late 1980s Courbage served in international roles as a specialist for UNESCO and the United Nations across Beirut, Cairo, Yaoundé, Port-au-Prince, and Rabat.

He is a distinguished French economist and Middle East specialist, particularly known for his expertise on Iran. He is a research fellow at IRIS, and a Professor at Novancia where he teaches macroeconomics, international economics, and country-risk analysis.

Professor Emeritus. Former Dean of the Faculty of Law at Nancy and later at Cergy-Paris. Honorary President of iReMMO, he authored numerous works on the Middle East and international relations.

Myriam Benraad is a political scientist, lecturer in political science and international relations, and an associate researcher at the Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim Worlds (IREMAM, CNRS), and EISMENA. A Middle East specialist, she has authored numerous publications on the region. Alongside her academic research, she serves as an expert for several international organizations.

He is a distinguished French historian and scholar, specializing in contemporary Islam and modern history of the Arab Middle East and more precisely Iraq, and Syria.

Imen Chaanbi is an international consultant specializing in geopolitics and strategic intelligence, working with the firms 5WE Consulting and Strategik IA. A recognized expert on African dynamics and the Arab world, she supports large-scale projects in more than a dozen countries, from the Maghreb to the Gulf (Libya, Chad, Saudi Arabia, etc.).

A university lecturer and researcher specializing in Critical Discourse Analysis. 

Didier Leroy is an Assyriologist, Islamologist and sociologist by training. He is a researcher at the Institut royal supérieur de défense (IRSD) and a visiting expert at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium.

Chloé Berger has over ten years of experience in security and defence studies, academic programme design and capacity building in the MENA region. She is currently a research fellow at the belgium Centre d’études de sécurité et défense (CESD).

Jaser Abu Mousa is a Palestinian political analyst and development specialist from Khan Younis, Gaza. He most recently served as a Program Manager for the Swiss Development Cooperation in the occupied Palestinian territory, where he managed humanitarian projects and authored biweekly reports on Gaza’s political, economic, and humanitarian dynamics. His career spans roles in engineering, social work, and political research, including with UNRWA and the EU-funded ‘Private Sector Reconstruction in Gaza’ program.

A graduate with a master’s degree in geopolitics from IFG, Lamia is an independent researcher focusing on the regions of North Africa and the Middle East. In particular, her work centers on the geopolitical, cultural, and social dynamics of Morocco.

Middle East Analyst, Journalist

Former Iraq director of the Oeuvre d’Orient, Chief of Staff to the President, Director of Public Affairs of the Order of Malta in France, graduate of the IEP of Bordeaux in international relations.

Edgar de Barbeyrac is an intern (Analyst) at the European Institute of Studies Middle East and North Africa (EISMENA). Specialized in security issues and defense, he focuses his research on the geopolitical stability of the MENA region an North Africa. Holder of a degree in Law and Political Science from the Faculty of Law the Catholic University of Lille, he is currently pursuing his studies within the same institution, in Master of International Relations (Faculty of Arts and Humanities). His academic background, focused on power dynamics and crisis management, he provides a solid legal and strategic basis. With a first experience in journalism, Edgar de Barbeyrac combines the abilities of rigorous synthesis to a keen sense of international news storytelling. Within EISMENA, it actively participates in the production of substantive analyses and in the monitoring of security files. His academic profile and emerging expertise allow her to provide a detailed look at the political and military developments in the theaters of operations contemporaries.

Maxime Lechat is an intern in analysis and translation on the MENA region at the European Institute for Middle East and North African Studies (EISMENA). Currently pursuing a Master 2 in Strategic Studies at Sorbonne University, she holds a degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Nantes. His final thesis focuses on the regional strategy of Iran. His areas of interest focus on the dynamics of the MENA region.  Maxime has previously gained a solid international experience within the GI-TOC (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime) organization where she collaborated with the Multilateral Engagement Team and the Central Asia Research Observatory. This course allowed him to acquire analytical rigor as well as a fine understanding of multilateral issues in the face of transnational threats. 

Bilingual in French and English, she is currently perfecting her Spanish and Arabic to deepen her analytical and research skills on local sources. 

This was created for experts and/or team members that preferred to be anonymous. EISMENA respects everyone’s privacy when safety is engaged. It is also used in case of common team works, or interviews.

Former intern at EISMENA, Student pursuing a Master’s degree in International Relations and Arabic Language (INALCO) and in Political Science (Sciences Po).

Former intern at EISMENA, she is a political science student in the dual French-German program between Sciences Po Aix and the University of Freiburg.

Louise Vaingre is an intern in analysis on the MENA region at the European Institute for Studies on the Middle East and North Africa. Holding a Bachelor degree in international relations and political sciences from ILERI, she is pursuing a Master degree in International relations at Sorbonne University. Her thesis is focused on the Iraqi Kurdistan within the geopolitical disruption in the Middle East since October 7th, 2023.

Senior Lecturer at Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA, Research Fellow at CERDAP2, Co-Director of the seminar (National Construction and Religions in the Mediterranean) at the Collège des Bernardins (Paris).