Dr. Maryam Al-Kuwari is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at International Affairs Department, Qatar University. She holds a PhD degree in Philosophy in Arabic and Islamic Studies at University of Exeter. Dr. Al-Kuwari holds Masters degree in Middle East Politics from SOAS, University of London. Since graduation, she has been working as department coordinator, where she had been leading facilitating, planning and decision making for the department. In addition to working as coordinator, Maryam has been teaching courses (Gulf Studies, Culture & Politics and Special Topics) and assisting faculty in researches about the Gulf region. Her interests in research are political sociology, state building and non-state actors in MENA and Gulf region.