Bader Mousa Al-Saif is a historian of the modern and contemporary Middle East and Islamic thought. He focuses on the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, namely its geopolitics, public policy, culture, reform dynamics, transnational trends, and gender studies. He is an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University and a fellow at The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).
Al-Saif has over two decades of experience researching and working in the Arab Gulf states, most notably as a deputy chief of staff to a former prime minister of Kuwait; senior vice president of the oil and gas sector at Agility Logistics; and a senior public policy consultant. Al-Saif is the recipient of various awards and a co-founder of several NGOs in the fields of education, youth empowerment, and transitional justice. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including “Transnational History in the Making: Islam and Hip Hop between the United States and the Middle East” (Contemporary Arab Affairs, Fall 2023) and “On the Edge: How Risks from Iraq Have Helped Form Kuwaiti Identity” (Palgrave, 2023). Al-Saif contributes policy analyses to multiple outlets and is frequently quoted and interviewed by renowned media platforms and publications around the world.
He holds a Ph.D. with distinction from Georgetown University, a Master of Education and a Master of Theology, both with honors from Harvard University, and a Master of Law with honors from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a double major in political science and history. He is on X (formerly Twitter) @bmalsaif.
