Senior Research Fellow
October 26, 2022
Writing for the United States Institute of Peace, Senior Research Fellow Peter Mandaville and Knox Thames expand on the findings of their longer report on international religious freedom and U.S. national security. They examine the correlation between religious freedom and political stability as well as the role of U.S. leadership.
Peter Mandaville is a Berkley Center senior research fellow and, from 2022-2024, a senior advisor on religion and inclusive societies at the United States Institute of Peace. He is a professor of international affairs at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, where he also serves as the director of the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies. Previous government experience includes serving as a member of the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning Staff (2011-2012) and as a senior advisor in the department’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs (2015-2016). He has also been a visiting senior fellow at the Pew Research Center. His research focuses on the intersection of religion and international affairs, with a primary focus on Islam and the Muslim world. His publications include, among others, Wahhabism and the World (2022), Islam and Politics (2014, 2020), Global Political Islam (2007), and Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma (2001). He holds degrees from the University of St. Andrews and the University of Kent and has studied at the American University in Cairo.
