Mohammed Jalal Majeed Shareef, PhD

Overview

Dr Mohammed Shareef is a Lecturer in International Relations and Diplomacy at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH). He became a UKH faculty member in January 2022 joining the Department of Politics and International Relations at the School of Social Sciences and Business Studies (SSBS). Mohammed Shareef is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (London) as well as many other professional bodies. Dr Shareef was previously a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations of the Middle East at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and the universities of Sulaimani and Soran in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Shareef’s professional background is diverse, his previous employment also includes the United Nations, BBC and INGOS. Shareef completed his PhD in International Relations at the University of Durham and has an MSc in International Relations from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.  His research interests include US foreign policy in the Middle East, US policy towards Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as well as the politics and international relations of Kurdistan. And is the author and editor of many books and book chapters. Mohammed has given numerous talks at top Think Tanks and world-class academic and governmental institutions, including the UK Parliament, the UK’s Foreign Office, Chatham House and the Washington Middle East Institute, amongst others. He is fluent in Arabic, and his English and Kurdish are at the native level. Mohammed Shareef is also a strategist, media commentator and analyst.

Education

• - PhD International Relations University of Durham - 2010
• - MSc International Relations University of Bristol - 2005
• - BSc Geology University of Sulaimani -2000

Publications

“The United States, Iraq and the Kurds: Shock, Awe and Aftermath” (Routledge 2014).

“Kurdish Islamists in Iraq, From The Muslim Brotherhood To The So-Called Islamic State: Continuity or Departure?” (KFCRII, 2015).

“The Kurdish Question Revisited” co-edited with Professor Gareth Stansfield (Oxford University Press & Hurst, 2017).

Mohammed Shareef, “China's Dual Diplomacy: Arab Iraq and the Kurdistan Region” (pp. 69–93), in Toward Well-Oiled Relations: China's Presence in the Middle East Following the Arab Spring, ed. Niv Horesh (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

Mohammed Shareef, “A Paradigm Shift in US-Kurdistan Region Relations Post-2014: The Evolution to a Strategic Partnership” (pp. 463–79), in The Kurdish Question Revisited, eds. Gareth Stansfield and Mohammed Shareef (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017).

Mohammed Shareef, “Kurdish Independence in US Foreign Policy” (pp. 209–20), in The State of Kurdistan Between Motto and Reality, ed. Dana Osman Hussein (Sulaimani: Shar Press, 2018).

Professional Qualification

• - Middle East Specialist, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), BBC Headquarters, New Broadcasting House, London (30 March 2020 – 1 April 2021)
• - Lecturer (visiting), Department of Politics and International Relations, Soran University, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (6 Nov. 2020 – 5 March 2021)
• - Lecturer (visiting), Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, College of Social Sciences and International Studies, University of Exeter, United Kingdom (Oct 2014 – March 2018).
• - Lecturer, Department of Politics, Faculty of Law and Politics, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (Oct 2010 – July 2014).
• - Personal Tutor, St Mary’s College, University of Durham, United Kingdom (Sept 2007 – July 2010).
• - Assistant Lecturer, College of Law, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (Dec 2004 – July 2006).
• - Assistant Lecturer (Visiting), College of Political Science, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (Dec 2004 – July 2006).
• - Lecturer (Visiting), National Centre for Gender Research, Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (Jan 2006 – Aug 2006).
• - Lecturer (Visiting), Police Academy, Ministry of Interior, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (June 2005 – Aug 2006).