Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Fellow at The Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant.

Dalia Fahmy is an associate professor of political science at Long Island University, where she teaches courses on U.S. foreign policy, international relations, and politics of the Middle East.

Akbar Ahmed is a diplomat and the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. He is an expert on contemporary Islam.

Samer S. Shehata is the Colin Mackey and Patricia Molina de Mackey Associate Professor of Middle East studies and the Middle East Studies program coordinator at the University of Oklahoma.

Sherine Hafez is a professor and the chair of the Gender and Sexuality Studies department at the University of California, Riverside.