Dr. Marina Calculli is a Fulbright fellow at the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) at the George Washington University (Elliot School for International Relations). She has held post-doctoral research positions at the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, the University of Oxford (St Antony's College) and the American University of Beirut (Issam Fares Institute for Public Policies and International Affairs). Her research deals with Middle East security, regime structure and foreign policy in Syria, Syrian-Lebanese relations and Hezbollah. Her most recent publications include “Middle East security: conflict and securitization of identities” in L. Fawcett, International Relations of the Middle East, 4th edition, Oxford University Press.