Rana Khalaf is a Senior Research Associate at ODI Global. She is a Syrian-British scholar and consultant specialising in local governance, civil society, peace formation and statebuilding in the Middle East, with a focus on Syria. Her work spans political economy analysis, evidence-based research, and strategic and formative evaluation across the humanitarian–development–peace nexus. She is a research fellow at the University of St Andrews and leads her independent research and evaluation consultancy. She has provided consultancy services for an array of organisations, including United Nations agencies, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the European Commission, Etana, INTRAC, and grassroots organisations. Dr Khalaf has previously served as an Academy Senior Fellow at Chatham House and has been involved in founding and advising Syrian civil society initiatives and networks. She is currently completing her book Il/liberalising Syria, which analyses Syria’s political trajectory from the Assad era to the post-Assad transitional period amid a shifting global illiberal peace order. She holds an MSc in Development Administration and Planning from University College London and a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Manchester.
