Dr Ziya Meral is a lecturer, researcher, advisor and programmes director specialising on global trends shaping defence and security, climate security, risk and policy, politics and foreign policies of Turkey and Middle East and the thematic issues surrounding interaction of religion with global affairs. He serves as an advisor and consultant to various projects, companies and as a board member to charitable and educational initiatives in the UK and Middle East.
He is a Lecturer in International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where he has convened, taught and tutored postgraduate courses on risk and policy analysis, general diplomatic studies and international relations of the Middle East. He is a Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, a Visiting Fellow at the Royal Navy’s Strategic Studies Centre and a Senior Associate Fellow of the European Leadership Network. He is also co-founder and an associate of the Climate Change and (In)Security Project, a joint initiative of UK Army and the University of Oxford, exploring impact of climate change on defence and security. He is a member of the Advisory Council of INFORM - an educational charity conducting research on religions and sects, and the Phoenix Community Care, a London based charity focusing on foster care, support and accommodation for asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors.
Till recently, he was the Director for Research and Programmes at the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research - British Army’s civilian and military think tank providing independent analysis and research on defence and security based at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. During his time at CHACR between 2016 to 2023, he organised more than 40 conferences and events for 9000 UK defence personnel, commissioning more than 150 academics and researchers and leading release of dozens of publications, and regularly taught, briefed and supported UK Army personnel at all levels on global developments, on going conflicts and operations. He was also a member of the Advisory Council of British Institute at Ankara. During 2010-2011, he was a Joseph Crapa Fellow at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in Washington DC, conducting research on ethno-religious violence. Previously, he worked as a human rights advocate with a focus on religious freedom in the Middle East and North Africa, ran advocacy campaigns and lobbied various governments on individual cases and thematic issues.
He holds a 1st Class BA Hons from Brunel University in London, MDiv from International School of Theology in the Philippines, where he lived for more than 3 years, a MSc in Sociology from the London School of Economics and a PhD in political science from the University of Cambridge. He studied Russian Literature at Ankara University. He has undertaken short-term studies and research in a wide range of countries, including Iran, Egypt, China, Canada, Nigeria, Israel, Turkey, USA and Jordan.
He is a frequent commentator in international and British media, including live television interviews on Al Jazeera, France 24, MSNBC, BBC and interviews on BBC World Service radio and BBC Radio's flagships programs including the Today Programme, and cited in news reports by the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Times, the Atlantic, CNN, Reuters and NBC News. He travels widely to lecture and delivered talks at leading diplomatic and academic institutions and conferences around the world. These have included expert statements and talks at the UK House of Commons and House of Lords, the U.S. Congress, US State Department, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Ministry of Defence, the EU Commission, the West Point Military Academy, Seoul Defence Forum and the NATO Defense College.
His first book in Turkish, Ve Tanrı Ağlıyordu (And God was Crying; Essays on Life, Hope and God) was published by GOA publications in 2006. His comparative study of Nietzsche's and Dostoyevsky's lives, thoughts and beliefs was published in Turkish as Budala: Nietzsche ve Dostoyevski Karşı Karşıya (The Idiot: Nietzsche and Dostoyevsky Face to Face) by Kaknüs publishing in 2011. His book, How Violence Shapes Religion: Belief and Conflict in Africa and Middle East, was published by the Cambridge University Press in 2018. He has also contributed to edited volumes, including, Abraham's Children: Liberty and Tolerance in an Age of Conflict by Yale University Press. He is the author of various briefings and special reports on a broad range of topics on defence and global security issues.