Berkley Center

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is currently a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former member of parliament from the Netherlands, as well as a prominent critic of conservative Islam and advocate for its reform. She is outspoken on issues such as the role of women, immigration, development, democracy, and conservative Islam. Ali is the author of the controversial film on violence against Muslim women, Submission, directed by Theo Van Gogh, as well as the books Nomad (2010), Infidel (2007), and a collection of essays, The Caged Virgin (2006). Born in Somalia, she fled an arranged marriage and sought political asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a political science degree and served in parliament for three years. Ali also worked as a researcher for the Wiardi Beckman Foundation and as an interpreter and advisor for the Office of Intercultural Communication in Leiden. She is now a permanent resident of the United States.