> Sources on Middle Eastern Politics <
Dr. Suha Hassen received her PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Her research is grounded in extensive fieldwork, including face-to-face interviews with 80 former ISIS fighters detained in Iraqi prisons and primary research with survivors of ISIS enslavement in Iraq. Her work focuses on violent jihadist movements and has led to the development of multiple empirically grounded models of radicalization, including the True Muslim Identity Model, the Symbolic-Linguistic Model, the Body Trap Model, and the Blood Equation Model, which explain how identity, narrative, embodiment, and violence interact in pathways to extremism. Dr. Hassen was a fellow in the USIP–Minerva Peace and Security Program (2024–2025) and was recognized as one of Homeland Security Today’s 50 Trailblazers for 2025.
