Bader Al-Saif is an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University and a non-resident fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center. Al-Saif focuses on the modern history and contemporary affairs of the Middle East, namely political and intellectual history, Islamic thought, reform dynamics, transnational trends, and gender studies. Al-Saif is the author of numerous publications, including Musulman-e Marksisti: The Islamic Modernism of Ali Shariati in Religion vs. Religion (2017); co-author of Higher Education and Contestation in the State of Kuwait After the Arab Spring: Identity Construction and Ideologies of Domination in the American University of Kuwait (2016); and “Neither Fulul nor Ikhwan: Abdulrahman Yusuf and the Rise of an Alternative Current in Post-Morsi Egypt” (2015). He is the founding president of Al-Saif Consulting, specializing in public policy research, education, women and youth empowerment, and interreligious dialogue in the Middle East. He has held senior roles in both the private and public sectors in Kuwait.

Al-Saif holds a PhD with distinction from Georgetown University, a master of education and a master of theology, both with honors from Harvard University, and a master of law with honors from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Al-Saif graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a double major in political science and history.