Sara Bazoobandi

Dr. Sara Bazoobandi is a Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies, part of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), a Leibniz Institute based in Hamburg, Germany. She has been associated with GIGA since February 2020. Her research focuses on International Political Economy and Energy Economics, with a regional emphasis on Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Her academic background includes a PhD in Middle East Political Economy from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, an MSc in Economic Development in Emerging Markets from the University of Reading, and a BSc in Civil Engineering from Tehran, Iran. Prior to her current role, she served as a Senior Lecturer and Lecturer in International Political Economy at Regent's University London (2015–2018), and as a Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore (2012).

Dr. Bazoobandi’s research centers on the political economy of the Middle East, particularly Iran’s economic resilience, diversification strategies, and digital transformation. She examines how Iran navigates international sanctions, develops its knowledge-based economy, and strengthens strategic alliances. Her work also explores the geopolitical implications of the Russo-Iranian nexus, focusing on military, economic, and ideological cooperation. More recently, she has been involved in the Digital Transformation Lab (DigiTraL), analyzing digitalization as a tool for international cooperation, particularly between Germany and the Global South.

Her recent publications and policy studies highlight trends in AI governance, GCC digital transformation, and the weaponization of knowledge in authoritarian contexts. These works reflect a strong interdisciplinary approach, combining political science, economics, and security studies.

She regularly contributes to media outlets such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, WirtschaftsWoche, and Deutsche Welle, offering expert commentary on Middle Eastern geopolitics, Iranian foreign policy, and regional conflicts.

Dr. Bazoobandi has taught at the Department of Political Science, University of Hamburg (2024), offering a seminar on ideology, state ethos, and power projection in Iran. She has also been a lecturer and speaker at international forums including the Gulf Research Meeting at Cambridge University, the Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale (ISPI), and the GIGA Forum, where she has addressed topics such as gender equality in the MENA region and the 2022 Iranian protests.

She is also the Managing Director of Middle East Risk Consulting, a role she has held since May 2018, demonstrating her engagement with applied policy and risk analysis in the region.