Kamaran Mohammad Palani is a Research Fellow at the Middle Eastern Research Institute (MERI). He attained a BA with distinction in Political Science from Salahaddin University (SU) in 2009 and was employed in the same department as an Assistant Researcher. He was awarded a scholarship from the Kurdistan Regional Government to study for an MA in Politics and International Relations (Global Security) at Keele University in the UK. Upon completing his degree in 2014, he was promoted to Lecturer in SU. In addition to his academic work, Palani acquired extensive experience by working with various local and international NGOs and research centres, including Al Mesalla, Peace and Freedom Organization in Kurdistan, PAX and the Institute for Nonviolent Action.
He was also involved in a collaborative research project sponsored by the University of New York, Iraq Studies in Beirut and the Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. His research interests include de facto statehood in the international system, post-war security issues, conflict management, state-building and democratisation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
