Peter Mandaville is a senior visiting expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace with the religion and inclusive societies team. He brings 25 years of academic, think tank, and government experience focused on the intersection of religion, international affairs, and the Muslim-majority world.

In addition to his role at USIP, Mandaville is also a professor of international affairs in the Schar School of Policy and Government and the director of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies, both at George Mason University. He is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and senior research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

From 2011-2012, he was a member of the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, where he was involved in shaping the U.S. response to the Arab Spring. From 2015-2016 he served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Secretary of State, where he helped to set up the new Office of Religion and Global Affairs. Previous affiliations have included the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Pew Research Center.

He is the author of the books “Islam & Politics” and “Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma,” in addition to several co-edited books, many journal articles, book chapters, op-eds, and commentary pieces in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, the International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Atlantic Online, and Foreign Policy.

He has testified multiple times before Congress on topics such as political Islam, U.S. counterterrorism policy, and human rights in the Middle East. His research has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Social Science Research Council, the British Council, and the Henry Luce Foundation.