Dr. Mustafa Alani is a Senior Advisor at the GRC and Program Director in Security and Terrorism Studies. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on security developments in the Gulf region, with particular emphasis on Iraq and Iran, and on Islamist terrorist organizations and fundamentalist groups. Since 1988, Dr. Alani has acted as consultant and advisor to numerous official and non-governmental institutions, and has spoken in front of the House of Commons on a number of issues. He is the author of Operation VANTAGE: British Military Intervention in Kuwait (London: LAAM, 1990); co-author of Saudi Arabia : The Threat from Within, Jane’s Intelligence Review (no. 12), of Jane’s Sentinel Annual Report on Saudi Arabia (1996), and of The Future of Iraqi Oil (New Venture Guide) (Robertson Research International, 1998). He has also authored numerous articles and reports on security developments in Iraq, Iran and the GCC. He holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Exeter, an MA in International Relations from Keele University and a BA in Politics from the University of Baghdad.