Zahid Shahab Ahmed

Associate Professor, National Defense College of the UAE

Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates

About

I am a scholar specializing in security and strategic studies, with a particular emphasis on peace and security in South Asia and the Middle East. My academic career includes teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses across institutions in Australia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. My research interests are diverse, encompassing foreign policy analysis, international organizations, regionalism, contemporary international politics, soft power, and religious extremism. In my capacity as a practitioner in international development, I actively engage with international organizations on projects aimed at preventing violent extremism through education. I have published extensively in prestigious scholarly journals, such as Third World Quarterly, Asian Studies Review, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Journal of Contemporary China, Contemporary South Asia, Global Policy, and Territory, Politics, Governance, and my work has been cited extensively. Additionally, I have co-edited several books and special issues. I am the sole author of Regionalism and Regional Security in South Asia: The Role of SAARC (Routledge, 2013) and the lead author of Iran’s Soft Power in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Edinburgh University Press, 2023).

Experience

  • Associate Professor at National Defense College of the U.A.E.
    Aug 2023 - Present · 2 yrs 11 mos

    Teaching and research in Security and Strategic Studies

  • Non-Resident Research Fellow at Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS-NUS)
    Aug 2021 - Present · 4 yrs 11 mos

    South Asian Studies

  • Deakin University (10 yrs 3 mos)
    • Honorary Fellow
      Aug 2023 - Present · 2 yrs 11 mos

    • Senior Research Fellow
      Apr 2018 - Jul 2023 · 5 yrs 4 mos

    • Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellow
      Apr 2016 - Mar 2018 · 2 yrs

  • Pakistan Peacebuilding Expert and Consultant at Peace Direct
    Mar 2010 - Dec 2022 · 12 yrs 10 mos

  • CPD Research Fellow at University of Southern California
    Nov 2017 - Nov 2019 · 2 yrs 1 mo

    Research in the area of Public Diplomacy