Hayder al-Khoei is an associate fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House and a fellow at Forward Thinking. His research interests include Middle Eastern history, politics and Islamic studies, with his areas of expertise being Iraq, Iran and clerical authority in Shi’a Islam. He holds a Master’s degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He also recently gained a degree in Islamic Studies from The Islamic College, London. Among his publications and writings are  “Syria: the View from Iraq” European Council on Foreign Relations (June 2013), “Iraq and Iran” in Iraq Ten Years On, Chatham House Programme Report (May 2013), “Al-Qaeda’s Surge Spells Further Turmoil for Iraq” The Guardian (August 2012).