Biography

Audra Grant is a political scientist and has worked on various RAND projects concerning: the evolution of domestic politics of Iraq; tribal configurations and insurgent group organization in Iraq; development in Al-Anbar province; the nature of apocalyptic rhetoric in Muslim discourse and Muslim perceptions thereof; the structure of attitudinal support for radicalism in the Middle East, Europe, and Southeast Asia; and various issues related to democracy and governance in Africa and the Middle East and to societies in transition. A former intelligence analyst at the U.S. State Department, Grant focused on Middle East political analysis and on implementing and analyzing public opinion research in the MENA. She has conducted research on the dynamics of political Islam;democratization; and U.S. foreign policy in her extensive travels to the MENA, including Iraq. She has published articles on: party dynamics in Algeria and Morocco; peace and reconciliation in Algeria; attitudes among Arab-Israelis; identifying support for democratization among Palestinians; gender as a determinant of support for political Islam and hard-line foreign policies; and illicit trade patterns in Africa. A visiting scholar at Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco (2006-07), Grant taught courses on Middle East politics and U.S. foreign policy and is an adjunct professor at the George Washington University. Grant has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin and is fluent in German and proficient in Arabic.