Ola Rifai
Ola Rifai is Deputy Director of the Centre for Syrian Studies (CSS) at the University of St Andrews, where her research focuses on the international politics of the Middle East. Her work examines identity politics, nationalism, sectarianism, and ethnic conflict, with particular attention to Syria and the broader contemporary region.
Her scholarship engages with the ways in which state formation, citizenship, and communal identities intersect with political violence and structural transformation. Through both historical and post-2011 analysis, Ola Rifai’s research provides critical insight into how identity is shaped, mobilised, and contested during periods of upheaval.
Ola Rifai holds an MA in International Politics from City University London (2011) and an M.Phil in International Relations from the University of St Andrews (2013).
She has many publications, including Sunni/Alawite Identity Clashes during the Syrian Uprising, Syria: Identity, State Formation, and Citizenship, The Kurdish Identity: From Banishment to Empowerment and, most recently, Sectarianization in Homs and Damascus: A Tale of Two Different Cities.
