Mohammadbagher Forough

Dr. Mohammadbagher Forough is an Associate at the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies, part of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies. He holds a PhD in International Security from Groningen University. His research focuses on Geoeconomics (infrastructure-security nexus), Middle East-China Relations, China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and Cybersecurity. Current roles also include Associate Researcher at Clingendael Institute (The Hague) and Affiliate Researcher at Leiden Asia Centre.

Education: PhD in International Security from Groningen University, The Netherlands.

Research interests span global order dynamics, with a focus on Asia-Pacific strategies and Iran’s foreign policy shifts. His publications analyze geopolitical shifts, including the 2023 Israel-Palestine war’s implications for China and Raisi’s Asia-oriented policies.

He has organized conferences on hydrogen futures and Indo-Pacific order-building, emphasizing small/middle power agency. Collaborations include the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific.