Francesco Salesio Schiavi is Research Assistant for the MENA Centre at ISPI. He holds a Bachelor's in History and a Master's in History and Oriental Studies from the University of Bologna. He has successfully concluded the TOMidEast Summer School at the University of Turin, andhasrecently completed a Master in Middle Eastern Studies (MIMES) at the Postgraduate School of Economics and International Relations (ASERI), Milan. Since 2017, he collaborates for Pandora, Rivista di Teoria e Politica, as Coordinator for the Middle East department.

Francesco’s research interests include security in the MENA region, conflict-management, hybrid security and the role of non-state actors (NSAs), with a focus on Iraq.