Bernard Haykel

Bernard Haykel (born 1968) is an American scholar of Islamic studies and Middle Eastern politics specializing in the intellectual, political, and social history of the Arabian Peninsula, particularly Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He is Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and the former director of the Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia (2007-2023). Haykel is widely regarded as a leading authority on Salafism, Islamic political movements, and Gulf regional politics, and has frequently advised policymakers and international institutions on Middle Eastern affairs. He has been described as "the foremost secular authority on the Islamic State’s ideology" by journalist Graeme C.A. Wood.[edit]