Prof. Abdullah BAABOOD is an Omani academic currently serving as the Chair of the State of Qatar for Islamic Area Studies at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. He has taught at numerous universities and institutions across Europe and the Gulf, and has held visiting professorships at the Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar. Previously, Prof. BAABOOD was the Director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University, and the Director of the Gulf Research Center at the University of Cambridge, UK. His teaching and research interests lie in international relations and international political economy, with a particular focus on globalization, regionalism, and the economic, social, and political development of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and their external relations. Prof. BAABOOD has published extensively and is a frequent speaker at international conferences, seminars, and media programs.