Farid Senzai is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Santa Clara University where he teaches courses on Politics of the Middle East as well as courses on International Relations and U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East. He is also a Fellow and the Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU). Dr. Senzai was previously a research associate at the Brookings Institution, where he studied U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, and a research analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he worked on the Muslim Politics project. He served as a consultant for Oxford Analytica and the World Bank. Dr. Senzai is currently on the advisory board of The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life where he has contributed to several national and global surveys on Muslim attitudes. His co-authored book is Educating the Muslims of America (Oxford University Press, 2009). His current research explores U.S. democracy promotion in the Middle East and U.S. relations with the Muslim world. His most recent book which he is writing now examines the Complexity of Political Islam (forthcoming Palgrave MacMillan). Professor Senzai received an M.A. in international affairs from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in politics and international relations from Oxford University.