Amin Saikal appointed ANU Public Policy Fellow

Hosting foreign dignitaries, advising the top echelons of Australian Government, public lectures, radio interviews, writing opinion pieces. 

Sounds like a typical week for newly appointed ANU Public Policy Fellow Professor Amin Saikal, who received the title in recognition of his outstanding contribution to public policy. 

Director of the Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Saikal is one of the world’s leading authorities on politics in the Middle East and Central Asia. His keen insights into these complex regions are highly regarded, and he is easily recognised through his extensive media outreach, which he sees as an important part of his job.

"I am very much motivated by sharing my knowledge and views with the wider community, and I see this as part of the public responsibility of an academic," says Professor Saikal.

While his work speaks for itself, any one of Saikal’s many students can testify to his extensive knowledge and passion for his field, readily observed as he breaks down issues which at first glance seem overwhelmingly complex.

During 2013, Saikal was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and received awards from ANU, namely the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for advancing the reputation of the university and a gender equity award. This is on top of accolades such as the prestigious Member of the Order of Australia (AM) that he was awarded in 2006.

Despite this being one of Australia’s highest honours, his greatest achievement to date is more modest.

"The greatest moment in my academic career has been the establishment and building of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (the Middle East and Central Asia),” says Saikal.

“The Centre is now the largest of its kind in Australia, with a very high national and international standing." 

Saikal has penned countless op-eds in international publications including International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, The Guardian and the Wall Street Journal, to name a few. Locally, you’ll find his op-eds in the Australian Financial Review, across Fairfax Media, in ABC’s The Drum, and you can catch him in interviews across Australian radio and television.

His lesser known public policy work includes advising various governmental and non-governmental agencies on defence and foreign policy issues related to his field of expertise.

So what does 2014 have in store for Professor Saikal? At the beginning of 2014 he added another book to his impressive resume, recently publishing an edited volume, Democracy and Reform in the Middle East and Asia. A second book, Zone of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran is due out later in the year.

In between books, journal articles and his usual media commitments, Saikal will speak at the United Nations University in Tokyo this month, and an interfaith dialogue in Vienna in March in the company of former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. He’ll also be hosting a conference on the Arab world, Iran and the major powers at the ANU later in the year.

As someone who has a long history of sharing his knowledge with the world, Saikal shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. With many parts of the Middle East in Central Asia in a state of political instability, his expert knowledge will continue to be in high demand.

Three other Public Policy Fellows were announced in 2014: Professor Valerie Braithwaite, Professor Sharon Friel and Professor Brian Schmidt.