Editor in Chief
Tamer Mallat, Lebanese, is the co-founder and editor in chief of ArabsThink.com. Tamer writes on Syrian and Lebanese politics and US foreign policy in the Middle East. He has also written for The Daily Star (Lebanon) and Al-Ayyam (Syria), and has contributed to the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law. Tamer completed his Bachelor’s degree in 2011 at Sciences Po Paris, and is specialized in the Middle East and broader Arab world. He is also a member of the Sciences Po Monde Arabe (Sciences Po Arab World) association. Currently a graduate student at Sciences Po Law School, with a focus in economic law, Tamer has taken a gap year from his studies to intern for a law firm based in Cairo, Egypt. Click here for articles by the author; follow @tmallat on twitter.
Associate Editor
Mélissa Rahmouni, Algerian-French, is the co-founder of ArabsThink.com. Mélissa has written for Libération (French daily), Courrier International, Open Democracy and has lectured several times at the European Parliament on Algerian politics and authoritarianism. She was the former president of the Sciences Po Monde Arabe (Sciences Po Arab World) association. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at Sciences Po Paris, with a focus on Middle Eastern and North African studies. Mélissa spent one year at Saint Joseph University of Beirut, in the department of history and international relations. She is a Master student in International Security and Energy at Sciences Po Paris. Mélissa was chargée de mission for the Tunis-based NGO Al-Bawsala – Promoting Democracy in Tunisia. She currently resides in Cairo, Egypt. Click here for articles by the author; follow @MelissaRahmouni on twitter.
Editor
Bart Hesseling, Dutch/French-Algerian, is affiliated with the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He is currently studying Arabic at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Langues O’) in Paris. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in social sciences from University College Roosevelt Academy in Middelburg (The Netherlands). Bart has previously worked in a variety of sectors, including government ministries, think-tanks and international organisations, always with a focus on the Middle East. His interests include politics and civil society in the Arab Gulf states, Euro-Arab relations and Middle Eastern cooking. Click here for articles by the author; follow @bhesseling on twitter.
Writers
Youssef Ait Benasser, Moroccan, is a student at Sciences Po Paris specialized in the Middle East and broader Arab world. He is currently a research assistant at the University of Southern California (USC). Youssef is also interning at the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles. He has a Baccalauréat in Experimental Sciences and Modern Languages & Literature. He is committed to many activities, with an orientation towards education systems and infrastructure improvement. He believes that the new generation needs to be prepared for the challenges they have to bear with. This awareness can only be achieved through empathy and debate. That is why he decided to join ArabsThink.com as a regular columnist. Click here for articles by the author.
Basile Roze, French, is a student at Sciences Po Paris and La Sorbonne Paris IV. He is currently studying Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. Basile is also a member of the Sciences Po Monde Arabe (Sciences Po Arab World) association. He has a particular interest in Arab-European relations, specifically within the context of post-revolutionary transitional periods. Click here for articles by the author.
Shereen Dbouk, Lebanese-French, has obtained a LLB at King’s College London, a Maitrise de droit at Université Paris-I Pantheon-Sorbonne, and graduated with a Master’s degree in International Law and Settlement of Disputes from the United Nations Mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica. Shereen is currently in Asia working with a new NGO, Women Voices Women Face, as an assistant for a documentary about women and local NGOs’ dedication to women empowerment. Shereen is also dedicated to social (re)insertion of disadvantaged children through artistic representations of collective memory. She would like to see such a project implemented in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Click here for articles by the author.
Antoine Alhéritière, French, completed his Bachelor’s degree in 2011 at Sciences Po Paris, and is specialized in the Middle East and broader Arab world. He spent his last year studying Arab history and Arabic at the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO) in Damascus. Antoine has worked in the field of humanitarian aid and development finance, with a focus on North Africa & the Middle East. He is currently a Master student in Public Administration at Sciences Po Paris. Click here for articles by the author. Follow @a_alheritiere on twitter.
Oussama Hariri, Lebanese, has a Bachelor’s degree in Translation from the Saint-Joseph University in Beirut. For Oussama, individual, social and political consciousness is the first step for real change in Lebanon. He believes that the future of his country, and the establishment of a long-lasting peace and social justice, can only be attained if the youth of Lebanon become educated and free from the political structures of their upbringing. Click here for articles by the author.
David Apelbaum, French, graduated from Sciences Po Law School in 2010 and from Paris-II University Law School in 2011. He is currently a trainee lawyer at the Paris School of the Bar and will take his lawyer’s pledge in 2012. He is specialized in criminal defense. A founder of the Sciences Po Monde Arabe association (Sciences Po Arab World) in 2006, David was the former president of the association from 2009 to 2011. His main areas of interest are the following: the social and workers’ movements in the Arab world; the politics of Maghreb; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and Western perceptions of the Arab world. Click here for articles by the author.
Takuya Matsuda, Japanese, is a third year student at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, specialized in International Relations. He has traveled to various countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the MENA region and has a particular interest in the affairs of the Middle East. He has closely observed the “Arab Spring” and its implication in international relations and US foreign policy in the region. He is preparing to apply for graduate studies on the East Coast in the US, where he spent part of his childhood. Click here for articles by the author; follow @tg676 on twitter.
Aïcha Gaaya, Tunisian, is a second-year student at Sciences Po Paris specialized in the Middle East and the broader Arab world. She is a founding member of “Al-Iltizam Assiyassi” (The Political Commitment) association. Click here for articles by the author; follow @aichagaaya on twitter.
Sabah Haider, Canadian / Iranian-Pakistani, is a filmmaker and freelance journalist based in Beirut. She has a BA in Political Science from the University of Guelph, Canada, and a MA in Film Studies, from University College London where she wrote her dissertation on the construction of national identity in contemporary Palestinian cinema. Sabah is a regular contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique English Edition and the Christian Science Monitor on various topics ranging from Middle Eastern arts, culture, politics, and business. She is currently writing her first feature film. Click here for articles by the author.
