Luciano Zaccara
Luciano Zaccara is a political scientist specializing in Iran, the Gulf and electoral systems in the Arab and Muslim world. He is Principal Researcher at New Ground Research (Qatar) and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Gulf International Forum. He is also a Visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and Director of the Observatory on Politics and Elections in the Arab and Muslim World, in Spain. He was Research Associate Professor in Gulf Politics at Qatar University (Gulf Studies Center) from 2014 to 2025.
He holds a BA in political science from the National University of Rosario (Argentina) and a PhD in Arab and Islamic studies from the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain). He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and a visiting researcher at the University of Exeter (Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies) and at Princeton University (Center for Iran and Gulf Studies).
His research focuses on Iranian politics and foreign policy, Gulf politics, international relations in the Gulf, and electoral systems in the MENA region. His recent books include China’s Economic and Political Presence in the Middle East and South Asia (ed. with M. Haghirian, Routledge, 2023) and Foreign Policy of Iran under President Hassan Rouhani’s First Term, 2013-2017 (ed., Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).
Google Scholar profile: scholar.google.com · YouTube channel: YouTube.
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Political Sciences
publication
Understanding Salafism
- Mohamed-Ali Adraoui
Published in 2022 by Palgrave Macmillan (Springer) in the series The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy, this book by Mohamed-Ali Adraoui, professor at Sorbonne Par...
publication
Religious Freedom in Italy. An Unfinished Path (1848-2024)
- Alessandro Ferrari
Published under the original title La libertà religiosa in Italia. Un percorso incompiuto (1848-2024), this synthesis by Alessandro Ferrari, professor of ecclesiastical law and comparative religiou...
article
Wael Saleh: “Recognising Without Confining, to Better ‘De-other’ the Public Debate”
- Wael Saleh
In an op-ed published on 20 July 2026 by Le Devoir, Wael Saleh, a member of the scientific committee of Pluriel, puts forward a new concept for contemporary democratic debate: "de-othering" (in Fre...
publication
The Muslim Brotherhood in International Relations: Roles and Outcomes
- Wael Saleh
In this book published by TRENDS Research & Advisory (Abu Dhabi, May 2026), Wael Saleh, a member of Pluriel‘s coordination committee, examines the place and modes of action of the Muslim ...
videos
Interreligious Dialogue and Ethnic Nationalisms in the Balkans
At the invitation of PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome) and Georgetown University, Ahmet Alibašić, professor of Islamic civilization at the Faculty of Islamic Studies...
article
Beyond Representation: Systemic Epistemic Alterity and the Architecture of Knowledge in the Contemporary Academy
- Wael Saleh
In this article, published in two parts by Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective (SERRC), Wael Saleh, a researcher at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) and a member of Pluriel's...
publication
Managing Religious Diversity in Italy: Law, Policy, and Practice in a Pluralist Era
- Alessandro Ferrari
In this article published in the journal Religions 17/3 (2026), Alessandro Ferrari offers a comprehensive analysis of Italy’s regime for governing religious diversity, at the intersection of ...
publication
The Muslim Brotherhood International Power Index (MBIPI) 2025
- Wael Saleh
- Patrice Brodeur
Published in February 2026 by TRENDS Research & Advisory (Abu Dhabi), The Muslim Brotherhood International Power Index (MBIPI) 2025 offers the first systematic, global measurement of the Brothe...