Jean-Loup Samaan

I am a senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Institut Montaigne.  

Prior to my position in Singapore, I was policy advisor at the French Ministry of Defense (2008 to 2011), research advisor at the NATO Defense College (2011-2016) and associate professor in strategic studies with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) National Defense College (2016-2021). 

My most recent book, New Military Strategies in the Gulf: The Mirage of Autonomy in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar was published in August 2023 by Bloomsbury/I.B. Tauris. I have authored five other books and several articles for various international academic and policy journals such as Survival, The National Interest, Orbis, The International Spectator, and Politique Etrangère. I also regularly provide analysis to major media outlets (BBC, CNN, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Le Monde, South China Morning Post)

I hold a Ph.D. in political science (2009) from the University of Paris, La Sorbonne as well as an accreditation to supervise research (2017) from the doctoral school of Sciences Po, Paris.