Marguerite Meira is an intern at the European Institute for Studies on the Middle East and North Africa as an analyst. A Master’s student at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), she also holds a dual Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from the Catholic Institute of Paris. Her academic background, at the intersection of law, economics and geopolitics, combined with experience gained at institutions such as the French Senate and the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union, fosters a historical, institutional and strategic approach to regional realignments. Her research and academic interests focus particularly on diplomacy in the Middle East and the balances of power within the region.

Ben is a research and analysis intern at the European Institute for Studies on the Middle East and North Africa. He is a French and Arabic student at the University of Oxford, holder of an Academic Scholarship and the Currie Prize for Modern Languages, with a keen interest in strategy, intelligence, and influence in MENA and the Francophone world. He studied Arabic for a year at the Institut français du Proche-Orient in Amman, Jordan.

Binar FK is a recipient of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies Fellowship and holds a master’s degree in Global Affairs from the University of Notre Dame. His writing about  political and security affairs in the Middle East has been featured by the Stimson Center, New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, and the European Institute for Studies on the Middle East and North Africa.

Sherko Kirmanj is a distinguished scholar who has authored several notable works, including Identity and Nation in Iraq (published by Lynne Rienner), which has been translated into Arabic and Kurdish. His extensive body of work includes over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters published in prestigious international volumes. Kirmanj has held academic positions across multiple countries, including Australia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He currently holds an appointment as an Adjunct Professor at Koya University in the Kurdistan Region.

Nijdar Khalid is an economist and research fellow at the University of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He received his PhD in Economics from the Institute of Economics at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nuremberg (FAU), Germany. His research focuses on economic freedom, institutional economics, political economy, and economic development, with particular emphasis on institutional structures in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Originally a Business & Mandarin graduate, Alec Barcenilla is a pluri-lingual researcher specialized in North Africa geopolitics, development and humanitarian affairs. He has worked in North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe across academia, NGOs and government (including the Cooperation Office at the Embassy of Spain in Morocco).

Lalla Amina Drhimeur holds a PhD in Political Science from Sciences Po Lyon. Her doctoral dissertation examines the evolution of political Islam in power through a comparative approach focused on the AKP in Turkey and the PJD in Morocco, analyzing the national and international contexts that shape their public policy choices. Dr. Drhimeur has taught Political Systems of the Arab Worlds and Socio-Anthropology of Arab Societies at Sciences Po Lyon, France. She is a former researcher with the ERC PRIME YOUTH project on Nativism, Islamophobia, and Islamism in the Age of Populism. This project employed a comparative methodological framework to investigate the socio-economic, political, and psychological determinants of radicalization among both nativist and Muslim youth across several European contexts.

Her research also explores informal forms of political mobilization and resistance among youth in the Arab world. Through fieldwork on cultural practices such as street art, music, and football supporter cultures, she examines how young people circumvent and challenge authoritarian and patriarchal systems by creating alternative spaces for political expression outside formal institutions. Her publications include: Rethinking the Inclusion–Moderation Hypothesis through Gender Politics: A Comparison between the AKP in Turkey and the PJD in Morocco; Diaspora Politics and Religious Diplomacy in Turkey and Morocco; The Party of Justice and Development’s Pragmatic Politics; The Rise of Populism? Comparing Incumbent Pro-Islamic Parties in Turkey and Morocco; and The 2011 Uprisings, Power Structures, and Reforms in Morocco.

Maneli Mirkhan is a strategic advisor on international affairs and public policy, specializing in Iran, based in Paris. She is the founder of the Iran Observatory and DORNA, the only public policy institute in France dedicated to Iran. She is the European Policy Advisor at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and an advisor to the Economic Security Council of Ukraine.

François LaRochelle is a former Canadian diplomat who served in the Middle East. He is currently a fellow at the Montreal Institute of International Studies at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQÀM)

Lucie Laroche, author of the book Mothers in Search of Justice, published by L’Harmattan, recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies from Sciences Po Grenoble, as well as a Master’s degree in International Security, Cybersecurity, and Defense from the Faculty of Law of Grenoble. She regularly publishes articles and analyses focusing on Turkey across various editorial platforms.

Karen Hekimian has a master’s degree in European and International Studies from the University of Trento and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Lebanese American University. Her research expertise is in the Middle East and the South Caucasus, with a focus on foreign policy, and conflict analysis, as well as refugee issues, integration, and European Union policy.

Journalist at Ouest-France

Former Intern at EISMENA

Former Intern at EISMENA

Giulia Fournier is a PhD candidate at Cerdap2, a research center affiliated with Sciences Po Grenoble / Université Grenoble Alpes, and is part of the CPJ project “Geopolitics of Borders in the Middle East.” Her doctoral research focuses on transborder Kurdish ties.

Independent analyst, graduate in journalism and international relations.

Iraqi journalist. He has worked in local, Arab and foreign media, specializing in the writing of investigations, articles and analyses on security and political issues in Iraq, as well as his contributions to writing on humanitarian and environmental issues.

He has also worked on the implementation of projects to support activists and journalists in Iraq, Yemen and Mauritania.

Professor of Public Law, Senior Advisor at Kurdistan Parliament – Iraq

Ali Abdul-Kadhim Dadoosh, PhD in economics, University of Baghdad.

He is a Research Assistant at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS).

He is an associate professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at Utrecht University and the director of the Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS).

Dr. Majid Hassan Ali earned his doctorate from the University of Bamberg in Germany, where his research focused on religious minorities in Iraq. He served as a lecturer at the University of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Yezidi Studies.

He is a historian and researcher specializing in the socio-economic and political dynamics of the Middle East, particularly Syria.He is currently a doctoral student at the Triangle Laboratory in Lyon and serves as a lecturer at Sciences Po Lyon.

He is a Lebanese historian and scholar specializing in the history of ideas within the Arab-Mediterranean region. He holds a PhD in Contemporary History from the University of Le Mans, France, and has completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the Lebanese University and the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Lebanon. Dr. Elias is currently an assistant professor at Antonine University and Lebanese University, where he teaches courses in history, philosophy, and political science.

Justine Salvestroni is a French journalist and geopolitical analyst based in Baghdad, Iraq. She specializes in Middle Eastern affairs, with a particular focus on Iraq’s political landscape and regional dynamics.

She holds a Master’s in International Relations and another one in Defense, Security, and Crisis Management from IRIS Sup.  Bertille is a consultant and associate researcher at EISMENA.