Tahani Mustafa is a Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and was an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded Postdoctoral Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) International Relations Department. She has taught at SOAS, the University of Exeter and in the Middle East. 

In addition to her academic experience, Tahani has also worked extensively in policy analysis and advocacy on security, peace and conflict mitigation in the Middle East. She is currently a visiting fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) and was the Senior Palestine Analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG). In her capacity as an expert on the Middle East, she has appeared on multiple international news outlets including CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera amongst others and written many commentaries and analyses. She has participated in and organised top table diplomacy on both Tracks I and II, and worked with UN special envoys and member states. She has also briefed Western and regional governments, humanitarian organisations, local and international NGOs, the European Union (EU), and several United Nations (UN) agencies. 

Research Interests

• Peacebuilding/Statebuilding
• Security Sector Governance and Reform
• Armed and civic resistance and militancy
• Political governance and reform
• Critical International Relations (IR)
• Middle East and Israel/Palestine

Tahani’s research explores international mechanisms of Security Sector Reform and Governance (SSR/G) in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). Her work bridges the disciplinary gap between security and peace studies using critical IR theory, examining the socio-political implications of internationally-backed programmes of assistance and reform and their capacity to re-engineer societies and restructure the practice of politics.

Tahani’s research also explores modalities of governance and political reform in the occupied territories, and the emergence of armed resistance amongst younger generations of Palestinians.

Publications

Policy Papers

• Mustafa, Tahani and Lovett, Hugh, “Averting West Bank collapse: How to revive Palestinian politics,” European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Policy Brief, 20 November 2025.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Expansion in the Shadows: The Dangers of Israeli Aggression in the West Bank,” Commentary, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) , 19 June 2025.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Israel’s West Bank Incursions Highlight the Dilemmas of Palestinian Politics,” Commentary, International Crisis Group (ICG), 4 March 2025.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “To Negotiate with Israel, Palestine Needs Political Unity,” The World Today, Chatham House, 9 September 2024.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Any Attempt to Run Gaza Like the West Bank Will Fail and Hamas Will Benefit,” The Guardian, 7 December 2023.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “With All Eyes on Gaza, Israel Tightens Its Grip on the West Bank,” Commentary, International Crisis Group (ICG), 24 November 2023.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Is Israel Prepared to Take Gaza?” Diwan, Carnegie Endowment, 26 October 2023.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “The New Generation of Palestinian Armed Groups: A Paper Tiger?” International Crisis Group (ICG), 17 April 2023.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Managing Palestine’s Looming Leadership Transition,” Report, International Crisis Group, 1 February 2023.
• Mustafa, Tahani, and Quran, Fadi, “Palestine and COVID-19: Lessons for Leadership During Times of Crisis,” Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, 1 September 2020.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Insecurity in a Police State: Security Sector Reform in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Rule of Unintended Consequences,” Security Sector Reform Resource Centre, 1 June 2015

Op-eds

• Mustafa, Tahani, “Recognising Palestine Should Be Just a Starting Point,” The National, Sep 24, 2024.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Any Attempt to Run Gaza Like the West Bank Will Fail and Hamas Will Benefit,” The Guardian Dec 7, 2023.
• Bhungalia, L., J. Greven and T. Mustafa. 2019. “The Shifting Contours of US Power and Intervention in Palestine.” Middle East Report 290: 13-19

Book Chapters

• Mustafa, Tahani, “The Political Economy of Security in A Political Economy of Palestine,” edited by Alaa Tartir, Timothy Seidel and Tariq Dana, Palgrave Macmillan, A Political Economy of Palestine, edited by Alaa Tartir, Timothy Seidel and Tariq Dana, Palgrave Macmillan, 1 December 2021.
• Mustafa, Tahani, “Palestine and the Wind of Arab Revolution in Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring: Rethinking Democratisation, Edited by Larbi Sadiki, 17 December 2014.

Journal Articles

• Mustafa, Tahani, 2019, Securitization Dysfunction: Security Sector Reform in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Contemporary Arab Affairs, vol.12 (1): 19–38.
• Mustafa, Tahani, 2015, Damming the Palestinian Spring: Security Sector Reform and Entrenched Repression. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 9(2), 212–230

Teaching

• Global Politics (5SSW2060)
• Theories, Concepts, and Methods in International Relations (7SSWN079)