François Burgat is Emeritus Research Director at France’s CNRS (IREMAN Aix-en-Provence). Among other institutions, he ran the French Middle Eastern Institute between 2008 and 2013 and the French Centre for Archaeology and Social Sciences in Sanaa from 1997 to 2003. An expert on Islamist movements, his latest book is titled 'Understanding Political Islam' by Manchester University Press (2019)