Peter Mandaville

Professor of Government and Politics

Contact Information

pmandavi@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-1054
Mason Square, Van Metre Hall, Room 661
3351 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
MSN: 3B1

Biography

Dr. Peter Mandaville is Professor of International Affairs in the Schar School of Policy and Government and Director of the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies (ACGIS) in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at George Mason University. From 2024-25 he served as the Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Senior Advisor for Faith Engagement at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). From 2022-24 he was Senior Advisor for Religion and Inclusive Societies at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). His prior government experience includes serving as a member of the U.S. State Department's Policy and Planning Staff (2010-12) and as a Senior Advisor in the Secretary of State's Office of Religion and Global Affairs (2015-16). He has also been a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Pew Research Center, and has held affiliations with the RAND Corporation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is the author or editor of the books The Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power (2023), Wahhabism and the World (2022), Islam & Politics (Third Edition, 2020) and Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma (2001) as well as many journal articles, book chapters, and op-ed/commentary pieces in outlets such as the International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Atlantic and Foreign Policy. He has testified multiple times before the U.S. Congress on topics including political Islam and human rights in the Middle East. His research has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Henry Luce Foundation.

Curriculum Vitae

View Peter Mandaville's CV

Tel: (703) 993-1054 | E-mail: pmandavi@gmu.edu

EMPLOYMENT

2025 – present
Professor of Government and Politics
Schar School of Policy and Government
Director, AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies
George Mason University
(Previously Assistant Professor, 2000-2005;
Associate Professor 2005-2014, Professor 2014-2022)

2024 – 2025
Director, Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships and Senior Advisor for Faith Engagement, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

2022 – 2024
Senior Advisor, Religion & Inclusive Societies
United States Institute of Peace (USIP)

2015 – 2017
Senior Advisor, Office of Religion and Global Affairs
U.S. Department of State (on leave from George Mason University)

2010 – 2012
Policy Planning Staff, Office of the Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State (on leave from George Mason University)

2003 – 2010
Founding Director (then Co-Director)
Center for Global Studies, George Mason University

2000 – 2003
Director of Research, Office of Henry Kissinger
Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)

1998 – 2000
Lecturer in International Relations
Department of Politics & International Relations
University of Kent at Canterbury (UK)

Other professional affiliations

2018 – present
Senior Research Fellow
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs
Georgetown University

2020 – 2022
Visiting Senior Expert
United States Institute of Peace (USIP)

2012 – 2020
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington DC (suspended 2015-16 due to government service)

2017 – 2019
Fellow, Lokahi Foundation, London, UK.

2011 – 2016
Adjunct Senior Fellow, RAND Corporation

2008 – 2009
Visiting Senior Fellow, Pew Research Center, Washington, DC

2003 (Jan-May)
Visiting Faculty Fellow, School of International Service,
American University, Washington DC

EDUCATION

1998
Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations (PhD)
Department of Politics & International Relations
University of Kent at Canterbury (UK)

1995
Master of Arts in International Conflict Analysis w/Distinction
Department of Politics & International Relations
University of Kent at Canterbury (UK)

1994
Master of Arts Joint Honours in International Relations
St. Andrews University, Scotland

1991 (Summer)
Arabic Language Institute (ALI)
American University in Cairo, Egypt

PUBLICATIONS

Books

The Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power: How States Use Religion in Foreign Policy, New York: Oxford University Press, 2023 (edited volume).

Wahhabism in the World: Understanding Saudi Arabia’s Global Influence on Religion, New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022 (edited volume).

Islam and Politics, New York & London: Routledge, 3^rd Edition, 2020 (Turkish edition, 2011; Arabic edition, 2014).

Politics from Afar: Diasporas and Transnational Networks, New York: Columbia University Press, 2012 (co-edited with Terrence Lyons).

Globalizing Religions, Newbury Park: Sage, 2009 (co-edited with Paul James).

Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma, London: Routledge, 2001 (revised paperback edition, 2003; Arabic edition 2017).

Meaning and International Relations, London: Routledge, 2003 (co-edited with Andrew Williams).

The Zen of International Relations: IR Theory From East to West, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001 (co-edited with Stephen Chan & Roland Bleiker).

Peer-reviewed journal articles

“Right-Sizing Religion and Religious Engagement in Diplomacy and Development,” The Review of Faith & International Affairs, Vol. 19, 2021.

‘Imagining the Muslim Atlantic,’ in Critical Muslim 35, July 2020 (co-authored with Dan Nilsson DeHanas).

‘Islam and Exceptionalism in American Political Discourse,’ PS Political Science and Politics 46:2, April 2013.

‘Globalization and Transnational Muslim Solidarities,’ Nations & Nationalism, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2012.

‘Think Locally, Act Globally: Diasporas & Transnational Politics,’ International Political Sociology, Vol. 4, No. 2, June 2010. (co-authored with Terrence Lyons)

‘Muslim Transnationalism and State Responses in the UK After 9/11: Political Community, Ideology & Authority,’ Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 35, No. 3, 2009.

‘Rethinking Democracy and Democracy Assistance,’ Development, Vol. 50, No. 1, 2007. (co-authored with Alicia Phillips Mandaville)

‘Globalization and the Politics of Religious Knowledge: Pluralizing Authority in the Muslim World,’ Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 24, No. 2, Spring 2007.

‘Towards a New Cosmopolitanism; or, the “I” Dislocated,’ Global Society, Vol. 17, No. 2, April 2003.

'Reading the State from Elsewhere: Towards an Anthropology of the Postnational', Review of International Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2002.

‘The Politics of Mediated Community: Reimagining Islam in Diaspora,’ Gazette: International Journal of Communication Studies, Vol. 62, No. 2, 2001.

'Territory and Translocality: Discrepant Idioms of Political Identity,' Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Vol. 28. No. 3, 1999.

'Sayyid's A Fundamental Fear: a dialogical review,' Global Society, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1999 (with Bobby Sayyid).

Peer-reviewed book chapters

“Peacebuilding and Religious Engagement in Diplomacy” in Nukhet Sandal & Ingo Trauschweizer (ed.), Religion and Peace: Global Perspectives & Possibilities, Columbus: Ohio University Press, forthcoming 2022.

‘Islam and Exceptionalism in the Western Policy Imagination’ in Tamara Sonn (ed.), Overcoming Orientalism: Essays in Honor of John Esposito, New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.

‘Islamism at a Crossroads’ in James Gelvin (ed.), Understanding the New Middle East, Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2021.

‘Islamism and U.S. Foreign Policy’ in Shadi Hamid and William McCants (eds.), Rethinking Political Islam, New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

‘Post-Islamism as Neoliberalisation’ in Faisal Devji and Zaheer Kazmi (ed.), Islam After Liberalism, New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

‘Islam and International Relations in the Middle East: From Umma to Nation-State’ in Louise Fawcett (ed.), International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 4^th Edition, 2016.

‘Global Jihadism, Subalternity and Urban Islam in the West’ in Zaheer Kazmi and Jeevan Deol (eds.), Contextualizing Jihadi Ideologies, New York: Columbia University Press, 2012.

‘The New Transnationalism: Globalizing Islamic Movements’ in Robert Hefner (ed.), The New Cambridge History of Islam, Volume 6, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

‘Does Religion Matter?’ in Jenny Edkins and Maja Zehfuss (eds.), Global Politics: A New Introduction, London: Routledge, 2008.

‘The Heterarchic Umma: Reading Islamic Civilization from Within,’ in Martin Hall and Patrick Thaddeus Jackson (eds.), Civilizational Identity: The Production and Reproduction of ‘Civlizations’ in International Relations, New York: Palgrave, 2007.

‘Islamic Education in Britain: Approaches to Religious Knowledge in a Pluralistic Society’ in Robert Hefner & Muhammad Qasim Zaman (eds.), Schooling Islam: The Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007.

‘Glocal Hero: Harry Potter Abroad’ in Iver Neumann & Daniel Nexon (eds.), Worlding Harry Potter, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. (with Patrick T. Jackson)

‘Sufis & Salafis: The Political Discourse of Transnational Islam’ in Robert Hefner (ed.), Remaking Muslim Politics, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

‘When Meaning Travels: The Changing Boundaries of Muslim Political Community’ in Peter Mandaville & Andrew Williams (eds.), Meaning and International Relations, London: Routledge, 2003.

Book chapters

‘Les défis de la religion et de la politique étrangère aux États‐Unis’ in Denis Lacorne, Justin Vaïsse, Jean‐Paul Willaime (eds), La diplomatie au défi des religions. Tensions, guerres, médiations, Paris: Odile Jacob, 2014

‘American Muslims and Global Islam’ in Yvonne Haddad and Jane Smith (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Islam in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

‘From Medinah to the Ummah: Muslim Globalization in Historical and Contemporary Perspective’ in Eliezer Ben-Rafael & Yitzhak Sternberg (eds.), World Religions and Multiculturalism: A Dialectic Relation, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2010.

‘Islamic Popular Culture in the United Kingdom’ in Christiane Timmerman et al. (eds.), In-Between Space: Christian and Muslim Minorities in Transition in Europe and the Middle East, Bern: Peter Lang, 2009.

'Reimagining Islam in Diaspora: The Politics of Media and Community' in Karim Karim (ed.), Diasporic Media and Transnational Communities, London: Routledge, 2003.

‘Towards a Critical Islam: European Muslim and the Changing Boundaries of Religious Discourse’ in Stefano Allievi and Jorgen Nielsen (eds.), Muslim Networks and Transnational Communities in and Across Europe, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2003.

‘Europe’s Muslim Youth: The Politics of Pluralism’ in Shireen Hunter (ed.), Islam, Europe’s Second Religion, Westport, CT.: Praeger Press, 2002.

‘Reimagining the Ummah? Information Technology and the Changing Boundaries of Political Islam’ in Ali Mohammadi (ed.), Islam Encountering Globalization, London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002.

‘De informatietechnologie en de verschuivende grenzen van de Europese islam’ in Dick Douwes (ed.), Naar Een Europese Islam?, Amsterdam: Mets & Schilt, 2004.

'Information Technology and the Changing Boundaries of European Islam' in Felice Dassetto (ed.), Paroles d'Islam: Individus, Sociétés et Discours dans l'Islam Contemporain, Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose, 2000.

'Hegemony and Autonomy in International Relations: The Continental Experience' in Robert Crawford & Darryl Jarvis (eds.), International Relations: Still an American Social Science? Towards Diversity in International Thought, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2000 (with A.J.R. Groom).

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Congressional Testimony

Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, United States Senate, July 2008, “Political Islam”

House Caucus on Human Rights, U.S. House of Representatives, May 2002. “Human Rights in Saudi Arabia”

Recent media appearances & quotations

New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, PBS, NPR, BBC, Al-Jazeera, USA Today, Voice of America

Consultancies & advising

U.S. Department of State, United States Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. National Intelligence Council, Helsinki Commission of the United States, Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, European Union External Action Service, World Bank, Brookings Institution, RAND Corporation, Institute for Inclusive Security, Oxford Analytica, National Bureau of Asian Research, Pew Global Attitudes Project, Pew Survey of Muslim Americans, Global Business Network (GBN).

Expert advisory council & board memberships

2019 – present
Member, Advisory Council, Religion & Foreign Policy Program, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

2017 – present
Advisory Council, Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies, Clare College, Cambridge University

2021 – 2024
Member, Advisory Board, World Barometer of Culture, Observatoire Pharos, Paris.

2020 – 2022
Member, Advisory Board, European Union Global Exchange on Religion & Society (GERIS)

2009 – 2024
Board of Directors, Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy

2014 – 2015
Editor-in-Chief for Current Events, Oxford Islamic Studies Online, Oxford University Press

2010 – 2012
Advisory Board, Pew Research Center, Global Survey of Islam

2010 – 2011
Steering Committee, U.S. Global Citizen Diplomacy Initiative

2009 – 2010
NATO in Afghanistan Expert Advisory Group, Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, Washington DC

2008 – 2010
National Board of Advisors, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, Washington DC

2005 – 2006
Advisory Board, Pew Study of Muslim Americans

Recent funded research

2021-present: Primary Investigator, “New Approaches to Religion in U.S. Foreign Policy,” Henry Luce Foundation.

2018-present: Primary Investigator, “The Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey,” Carnegie Corporation of New York.

2017-2019: Co-Investigator, “Contextualizing Islam in Pluralistic Societies,” European Union.

2017-2020: Primary Investigator, “Transnational Religious Influence from the Middle East Workshop,” Henry Luce Foundation.

2017-2020: Primary Investigator, “Religion and International Affairs in a New Policy Environment,” Henry Luce Foundation.

2014-2015: Primary Investigator, “Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion & Diplomacy,” Henry Luce Foundation.

2014-2015: Co-Primary Investigator, “The Future of Islamism,” Henry Luce Foundation.

2014-2015: Co-Primary Investigator, “Teaching Connected Histories of the Mediterranean,” National Endowment for the Humanities.

2014-2015: Co-Primary Investigator, “Emerging Powers in Post-Conflict and Transitional Settings,” United States Institute of Peace.

2013-2015: Co-Primary Investigator, “Enhancing Publicly Engaged Scholarship in the Arab World,” The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

2013-2015: Co-Primary Investigator, “The Role of Religion in Foreign Policy & Processes of Societal Transformation,” British Council & Henry Luce Foundation.

2012-2015: Primary Investigator, “The Islamic Mediterranean & Modernity,” Social Sciences Research Council and the British Council.

2012-2014: Primary Investigator, “Bridging Cultures: The lslamic World,” National Endowment for the Humanities.

2007-2011: Co-Primary Investigator, ‘Global Migration and Transnational Politics,’ John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

2008-2010: Primary Investigator, ‘Transnational Islam in Europe,’ Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

2004-2010: Primary Investigator, ‘Globalization Dialogues Project,’ Vradenburg Foundation.

2008: Primary Investigator, ‘Transnational Islam in South & Southeast Asia,” National Bureau of Asian Research.

Professional & scholarly association memberships

American Academy of Religion (AAR)

American Political Science Association (APSA)

International Studies Association (ISA)

Middle East Studies Association (MESA)

The Muslim Institute (UK)

Fellow (elected) of the Royal Geographical Society (UK)

Service to the profession

Member, APSA Area Studies Liaison Group (Middle East Rep)

Member, Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East Studies Association (2009-10)

Article & manuscript reviews for Princeton University Press, Camrbidge University Press, University of Chicago Press, University of North Carolina Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, American Political Science Review, International Studies Quarterly, Review of International Studies.

Journal editorial boards: Foreign Policy Bulletin (Cambridge University Press), Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization (MIT Press), Cooperation & Conflict (Sage), Global Society (Taylor & Francis)

Research languages

French (fluent)

Arabic (proficient)

Areas of Research

Islam and Politics
Religion and International Relations
Middle East
Information Technology and Social Change
Emerging Powers and World Order