Sultan Barakat

Professor Sultan Barakat is an Honorary Professor at the University of York's Department of Politics and International Relations and Director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar. He founded the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at York in 1993 and led it until 2016. His research focuses on conflict management, humanitarian response, post-conflict reconstruction, and the Research-Policy Nexus. He has advised international organizations like the UN, World Bank, and EU, and contributed to evaluations in over 20 countries.

Research Interests: Strategic conflict assessment, statebuilding, humanitarian diplomacy, and aid modalities. His work bridges academic research and policy impact, emphasizing context-driven strategies in conflict-affected regions.

Grants & Projects: Principal Investigator on grants totaling millions from ESRC, DFID, EU, World Bank, and Qatar. Recent projects include studies on Gulf state donorship, Qatar’s foreign policy impact on peacebuilding, and humanitarian diplomacy.

Awards & Recognition: Recipient of the University of York Vice-Chancellor’s Gold Award (2011). Member of advisory boards for the Overseas Development Institute and the Global Peace Index Expert Panel (2008–2014).

Labs/Teams: Leads CHS and PRDU. Collaborates with institutions like Brookings Institution and the Norwegian Refugee Council.