Mr Bilahari Kausikan is the Chairman of the Middle East Institute, an autonomous institute of the National University of Singapore. Mr Kausikan was Permanent Secretary of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2013, having served as Second Permanent Secretary since 2001. He was subsequently Ambassador-at-Large until May 2018. His earlier appointments at the Ministry include Deputy Secretary for South-east Asia, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, and Ambassador to the Russian Federation. He was educated at Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York.
About
Welcome to the Middle East Institute
The Middle East Institute (MEI), which was founded in 2007, is an autonomous research institute within the National University of Singapore (NUS). From its vantage point in Singapore, a crossroads of the world, MEI exists to advance understanding of the Middle East, and to deepen engagements between the Middle East and Asia. We do this through research, and aim to provide reasoned views to scholars, students, policymakers, businesses and the public through publications, lectures, consultations and outreach. We host speakers and visitors from and on the Middle East, and serve as a concourse for exchanging ideas and information on the Middle East in Singapore, Asia and the world.
The Middle East is also known as West Asia. West Asia, South Asia and East Asia meet in Southeast Asia. They were principals and partners in the historic maritime Silk Roads, intermeshed in webs of trade, religion, kinship, friendship and mutual recognition. Southeast Asia is profoundly shaped by this lasting engagement. We stand at the cusp of its historic revitalisation today, and feel a sense of responsibility to help inform its future course. West Asians have always had homes elsewhere in Asia. We want to make that a reality again today..
Board of Directors
CHAIRMAN
Bilahari Kausikan
Bilahari Kausikan is Chairman of the Middle East Institute (NUS). He has spent his entire career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his 37 years in the ministry, he served in a variety of appointments at home and abroad, including as ambassador to the Russian Federation, permanent representative to the United Nations in New York and as the permanent secretary to the ministry. Mr Kausikan studied at the Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York.
Bilahari Kausikan
بيلاهاري كاوسيكان
MEMBERS
Liu Bin
Deputy President (Research and Technology), National University of Singapore
Anthony Teo Soon Chye
Director, Greenship Holdings Ltd
Director, Greenship Holdings Ltd
Deputy Secretary/Asia-Pacific Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Tan Soon Kim
Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore
Hawazi Daipi
High Commissioner (Non-Resident) High Commission of the Republic of Singapore – Ghana, Non-Resident Representative to the Palestinian National Authority
Andress Goh
Director, Greenship Holdings Ltd
Phua Kok Keong
Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of Home Affairs
Fazlur Rahman Bin Kamsani
Director, Greenship Holdings Ltd
Ng Teck Hean
Council Member, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, National Youth Council
Khadijah Alattas
Banking and Investment Professional
Eli Manasseh (Nash) Benjamin
Chief Executive Officer, F J Benjamin Holdings Limited
Research
EXPERTS
ADJUNCT STAFF
HONORARY APPOINTEES
EXPERTS
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Blank has taught graduate courses at Harvard University (where he earned his PhD and Masters, after earning his Bachelor’s from Yale), Georgetown University, George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is the author of the books Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam and Modernity Among the Daudi Bohras and Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana through India.
Misha Monteiro-Benson is Research Assistant to Michelle Teo, Executive Director of the Middle East Institute (MEI), National University of Singapore. A former member of the Singapore Armed Forces (2016-2019) and a Criminology graduate, Misha supports MEI’s research on Central Asia with a focus on understanding the region.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Asif Shuja is an Iran expert whose research focus include Iranian domestic politics, the Iranian nuclear issue, Iran’s foreign policy and Iran’s regional role. He was previously associated with the International Center for Strategic Studies, Abu Dhabi, as a non-resident fellow. His other research affiliations include the Indian Council of World Affairs, where he worked as a research fellow and the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi where he was attached with the Nuclear Security Project of the Department of Atomic Energy. Asif obtained his PhD on Iran’s political power struggle from the Centre for West Asian (Middle East) Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is the author of the book, India‑Iran Relations under the Shadow of the Iranian Nuclear Issue.
Dr Jean-Loup Samaan is a Senior Research Fellow specialising in Middle East strategic affairs, with a particular focus on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, and the evolution of the Gulf security system. Prior to joining MEI, he held various positions in the policy sector. He worked as a visiting scholar with the Rand Corporation (2007-2008) and as an adviser at the Directorate for Strategic Affairs of the French Ministry of Defence (2008-2011).
He then gained extensive experience in the domain of military education and training, first as a deputy director for the Middle East Faculty of the Nato Defense College (2011-2016) and as an associate professor in strategic studies with the UAE National Defense College (2016- 2021).
Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi’s areas of research expertise and interest include clean energy policy and climate economics, policies and governance, with a focus on the Arab region.
Following her PhD, from 2016 to 2017, she was a research officer at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Middle East Centre. She was also a former visiting scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (2017) and Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (2018). Before joining MEI, Dr Al-Sarihi was a research associate in the Climate and Environment Program at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) from 2019 to 2021.
She holds a PhD from the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and a MSc and a BSc, with distinction, in environmental science from Sultan Qaboos University.
Dr Clemens Chay is a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. His research focuses on the history and politics of the Gulf states, with a particular emphasis on Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. At MEI he spearheads a public education series entitled “Bridging the Gulf”. His recent academic publications include a chapter that examines Kuwait’s parliamentary politics in The Routledge Handbook of Persian Gulf Politics (2020), a chapter in the edited volume Informal Politics in the Middle East (Hurst, 2021), and a study appearing in the Journal of Arabian Studies, titled “The Dīwāniyya Tradition in Modern Kuwait: An Interlinked Space and Practice.” His commentaries also feature across different outlets, including ISPI, KFCRIS, and AGSIW. He is currently working on a book project related to Kuwait’s diwaniyas (affectionately known as diwawin, and more widely known as majalis outside Kuwait), the reception rooms for informal meetings that have implications for society, politics and diplomacy.
Prior to joining MEI, Dr Chay was the Al-Sabah fellow at Durham University, where he taught and completed his PhD in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, and where he also received an MSc in defence, development and diplomacy. He is also a Sciences Po Paris alumnus, having read his BA at the Menton campus.
Prior to joining MEI, Dr Chay was the Al-Sabah fellow at Durham University, where he taught and completed his PhD in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, and where he also received an MSc in defence, development and diplomacy. He is also a Sciences Po Paris alumnus, having read his BA at the Menton campus.
ADJUNCT STAFF
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi’s areas of research expertise and interest include
clean energy policy and climate economics, policies and governance,
with a focus on the Arab region. Following her PhD, from 2016 to 2017,
she was a research officer at the London School of Economics and
Political Science’s Middle East Centre. She was also a former visiting
scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (2017) and
Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (2018).
Before joining MEI, Dr Al-Sarihi was a research associate in the
Climate and Environment Program at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and
Research Center (KAPSARC) from 2019 to 2021. She holds a PhD from the
Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and a MSc
and a BSc, with distinction, in environmental science from Sultan
Qaboos University.
Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi’s areas of research expertise and interest include
clean energy policy and climate economics, policies and governance,
with a focus on the Arab region. Following her PhD, from 2016 to 2017,
she was a research officer at the London School of Economics and
Political Science’s Middle East Centre. She was also a former visiting
scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (2017) and
Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (2018).
Before joining MEI, Dr Al-Sarihi was a research associate in the
Climate and Environment Program at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and
Research Center (KAPSARC) from 2019 to 2021. She holds a PhD from the
Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and a MSc
and a BSc, with distinction, in environmental science from Sultan
Qaboos University.
HONORARY APPOINTEES
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Jonah Blank is a political scientist and anthropologist who is currently based in Singapore, with one foot in the world of academia and the other in that of public policy. From 1999-2011 he served as Policy Director for South and Southeast Asia of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He began his professional life as Finance Editor of the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo, earned his doctorate in social anthropology and has focused his career on the broad intersection of human capital, public policy, international security, economy and social development.
Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi’s areas of research expertise and interest include
clean energy policy and climate economics, policies and governance,
with a focus on the Arab region. Following her PhD, from 2016 to 2017,
she was a research officer at the London School of Economics and
Political Science’s Middle East Centre. She was also a former visiting
scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (2017) and
Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (2018).
Before joining MEI, Dr Al-Sarihi was a research associate in the
Climate and Environment Program at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and
Research Center (KAPSARC) from 2019 to 2021. She holds a PhD from the
Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and a MSc
and a BSc, with distinction, in environmental science from Sultan
Qaboos University.
Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi’s areas of research expertise and interest include
clean energy policy and climate economics, policies and governance,
with a focus on the Arab region. Following her PhD, from 2016 to 2017,
she was a research officer at the London School of Economics and
Political Science’s Middle East Centre. She was also a former visiting
scholar at Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (2017) and
Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (2018).
Before joining MEI, Dr Al-Sarihi was a research associate in the
Climate and Environment Program at King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and
Research Center (KAPSARC) from 2019 to 2021. She holds a PhD from the
Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and a MSc
and a BSc, with distinction, in environmental science from Sultan
Qaboos University.