Omar ASHOUR

Bio

Omar Oscar Ashour is Professor of Security & Military Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (Qatar), Honorary Professor at the Security & Strategy Institute of the University of Exeter (UK), and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (Ukraine). He wrote How ISIS Fights (2021) and The De-Radicalization of Jihadists (2009), and edited Bullets to Ballots: Collective De-Radicalisation of Armed Movements (2021). He has extensively explored how non-state forces fight, and how they shift from bullets to ballots, examining de-radicalization challenges and the efficacy of combat strategies of small(er) forces. His research spans security and military affairs in the Middle East and post-Soviet republics and it is underscored by numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and over two hundred op-eds. A frequent contributor to local and international media, Prof. Ashour now focuses on comparative combat effectiveness, highlighted by his recent studies on terrorism in warfare and on hybrid defence lessons from Ukraine, Syria and Gaza.