Hassan Hassan | |
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Alma mater | University of Nottingham |
Occupation | Author, Journalist |
Hassan Hassan is an author and journalist. He co-wrote the 2015 New York Times Bestseller ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror with Michael Weiss. His work on Islamist groups in the Middle East is widely acclaimed. He frequently appeared on flagship television programs, including the O'Reilly Factor, Amanpour and the Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, and has written for the New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Guardian, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, the Daily Beast, among other outlets.
Hassan is from Albu Kamal, Deir Ezzor, in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border. He moved from hometown to Damascus in 2000 to study English literature at the Damascus University. He completed an MA in International Relations at the University of Nottingham, the UK. After graduation, he moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2008 to work as a journalist for The National newspaper, covering domestic and Gulf affairs. He covered the Syrian conflict since the uprising began in 2011. His research on the Islamic State included extensive interviews with members of the organization since its rise in his area in 2014.
His book on the rise of the Islamic State was chosen by the Wall Street Journal as one of 10 must-read works on the evolution of terrorism in the Middle East, one of the Times of London’s Best Books of 2015, and the New York Times' Editors' Choice in April 2015. The book was reviewed favorably twice by the New York Times.The New York Times' chief book critic, Michio Kakutani, said the book gave readers "a fine-grained look at the organization’s evolution through assorted incarnations."
Hassan studies Sunni and Shia militant organizations, as well as Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf. His research was commissioned by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, European Council on Foreign Relations, Chatham House,Royal United Services Institute, Brookings Institution, University of Oxford's Gulf studies forum.