Dr. Sanam Vakil is a foreign policy analyst. Currently, she is the Deputy Head of the Middle East & North Africa Programme at Chatham House, where she leads project work on Iran and Gulf Arab dynamics. She is also a Lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. Vakil's first book, "Women and Politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Action and Reaction," was published in 2013. Vakil received her M.A. in International Relations & Economics and her Ph.D. in Ph.D, International Relations & Middle East Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.