Dr. Gawdat Bahgat is a distinguished professor of National Security Affairs at the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.  With over 30 years of experience in academia and political consulting, Dr. Bahgat is considered a leading expert on Middle East geopolitics. His academic career began in Egypt and then consolidated in the United States. He is the author of several books and more than 200 articles in scholarly journals. His areas of expertise include energy transition, climate change, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Iran, GCC states, Egypt, Israel and American foreign policy.