Dr. Zain al-Abdin is a researcher and an academic. He received his doctorate in Political History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 1999, and a bachelor’s degree from the same university in 1993. He specialises in the political history of the Arab world and has published several books, research papers and articles on strategic affairs of the Arab Gulf region, the Syrian Revolution, and the history of Egypt and the Levant.

He served as head of the International Audit Department at the Islamic Bank of Qatar from 1996 to 1999, and has extensive experience in financial regulations and legal audit.

He also served as faculty member at the University of Bahrain from 2001 to 2011, where he delivered key contributions in the fields of quality assurance regulating academic practices, and in the development and progress of higher education. He participated in several regional and international conferences, co-founding the Centre for Historical Studies at the university, where he was appointed deputy to the director of the Centre from 2008 to 2011. He also taught at Sheikh Isa Military College, and has made a number of scientific and historical contributions during his work with the Bahraini Royal Court (Diwan) from 2004 to 2007.

He has worked as Chief Researcher at the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies from 2011-2014, where a collection of his works and research on the political and strategic affairs of the Gulf region were published.

Dr. Zain al-Abdin is a member of the Royal Asiatic Society in London, the Institute of Historical Research in the United Kingdom, the Syrian Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Washington, and the Union of Arab Historians in Cairo.

He has published numerous books, research and scientific papers on GCC security, Egyptian history and Syrian affairs, notably “The Army and Politics in Syria, 1918-2000”, together with many varied intellectual contributions on Syrian affairs.