Bader Al-Saif

Bader Mousa Al-Saif is a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where his research focuses on the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula. Al-Saif is also assistant professor of history at Kuwait University. He holds a Ph.D. with distinction from Georgetown University.

Al-Saif focuses on the modern history and contemporary affairs of the Middle East, namely political and intellectual history, Islamic thought, reform dynamics, transnational trends, and gender studies. Al-Saif is the author of numerous publications, including “Musulman-e Marksisti: The Islamic Modernism of Ali Shariati in Religion vs. Religion” (2017); co-author of  “Higher Education and Contestation in the State of Kuwait After the Arab Spring: Identity Construction and Ideologies of Domination in the American University of Kuwait” (2016); and “Neither Fulul nor Ikhwan: Abdulrahman Yusuf and the Rise of an Alternative Current in Post-Morsi Egypt” (2015). He is the founding president of Al-Saif Consulting, specializing in public policy research, education, women and youth empowerment, and inter-religious dialogue in the Middle East. He has held senior roles in both the private and public sectors in Kuwait.

Al-Saif holds a master of education and a master of theology, both with honors from Harvard University, and a master of law with honors from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Al-Saif graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a double major in political science and history.