Barah Mikaïl is a senior researcher at FRIDE. Prior to joining the organisation, he was senior researcher on Middle East and North Africa and on Water Issues at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS) in Paris (2002-2010). Barah has been lecturer at the Collège Interarmées de Défense at the French Ministry of Defence (2005-2007); at the Université Paris-8 Saint-Denis (since 2005); and at Sciences-Po Lille (2004-2005). In 2003, he also worked as an analyst on Middle East issues at the French Ministry of Defence. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Université Paris 8 Saint-Denis; an MA in Political Science from the Université Paris Dauphine; and an MA in International Relations and an MA in Arab and Islamic Civilisations from the Université Marc Bloch. He specialises in the Middle East and North Africa region, covering topics such as EU and US policies, and security, political and economic issues. Other areas of expertise include ethnicity, tribalism and Islam in the Arab world, and water political issues and stakes. His most recent publications include: ‘Syrie: lent retour en grâce pour “l’enfant terrible” du Moyen-Orient’, RAMSES 2011, September 2010; ‘Al-‘Alam, expression d’un échec médiatique iranien?’, Confluences Méditerranée 69, Spring 2009; ‘Lourds enjeux hydrauliques dans le monde nilotique, ou les risques d'une fragmentation régionale en gestation’,Maghreb Machrek 196, Summer 2008 ; ‘Un fleuve sous haute tension: le Nil. Vers une configuration belliqueuse dans le bassin du Nil?’, Futuribles 346, November 2008; “Iran and the « Shi’ite Crescent » Theory: How to Transform a Scarecrow into a Giant”, Shi’a Affairs Journal, Winter 2008; and ‘La Syrie dans la ligne de mire’, in B. Courmont, Ed.,Washington et les Etats Voyous: Une stratégie plurielle? (Dalloz, 2007). He has also authored four books : « La politique américaine au Moyen-Orient » (American Policy in the Middle East), Dalloz, 2006; « L’eau, source de menaces ? » (Water: A source of threats?), Dalloz, 2008; « La Syrie en cinquante mots-clés » (Syria in 50 Keywords), L’Harmattan/Comprendre le Moyen-Orient, 2009; and "Une nécessaire relecture du "Printemps arabe"" (A Necessary re-reading of the "Arab Spring"), Editions du Cygne, 2012.
