P.R. Kumaraswamy is a professor of contemporary Middle East studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. From 1992-1999, he was a research fellow at the Harry S., Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Jerusalem. Since joining JNU in September 1999, he has been researching, teaching, and writing on various aspects of the contemporary Middle East. Prof. Kumaraswamy has edited several volumes and published numerous research articles in refereed and non-refereed international journals and regularly contributes to Indian as well as international media outlets. In February 2010, he set up the virtual Middle East Institute, New Delhi and serves as its honorary director. He is the editor of Contemporary Review of the Middle East and the series editor of Persian Gulf: India’s Relations with the Region.Md. Muddassir Quamar is Associate Fellow in the Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi, India. He holds a Ph.D. in Middle East studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India. His doctoral thesis examined social developments in Saudi Arabia between 1991 and 2010 within a conceptual framework of Islamic modernism. Dr. Quamar’s areas of interest include Politics and Societies in the Gulf, Middle East Strategic Affairs, and Political Islam. His research papers have appeared in leading international journals such as Contemporary Arab Affairs, Digest of Middle East Studies, Journal of Arabian Studies and Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. Quamar was a visiting fellow in King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh and serves as Associate Editor of Contemporary Review of the Middle East.Sameena Hameed is Assistant Professor in Middle Eastern Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her areas of specialization include the Middle Eastern economy, India's economic relations with the Middle East andenergy security issues. She has contributed monographs, journal articles and chapters to edited volumes. She has prepared research papers and study reports for the Ministry of External Affairs and other trade and commerce organizations like ASSOCHAM. She has been a member of the MEA-constituted Select Group on Gulf and West Asia. She was also a member of the Indian team for 'India –GCC Strategic Partnership' project and the Indo-Saudi Dialogue.
