Bassant Hassib

Dr. Bassant Hassib is a non-resident scholar with the Strategic Technologies and Cybersecurity Program at the Middle East Institute. She is also a consultant with the International Security Program at Chatham House as part of the Gender and Cybersecurity project. Dr. Hassib was previously an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the British University in Egypt, a fellow at the Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies (LIAS) at the University of Leicester, and a DAAD visiting researcher at Arnold Bergstraesser Institute of the University of Freiburg. She was also a consultant with the Atlantic Council.
 
Dr. Hassib is a frequent speaker at international conferences including the Global Cybersecurity Forum, the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Hague Program on International Cybersecurity Conference on Cyber Norms. She has authored numerous publications in peer-reviewed academic and policy journals including Middle East Policy and the Journal of Cybersecurity, and book chapters with international publishers including Routledge and Springer. 

Areas of Expertise
Her various research areas of interest and expertise include cybersecurity governance in Egypt and the GCC, (counter)surveillance, gendered cybersecurity threats, the geopolitics of cybersecurity and the digital economy, counterterrorism and civil society, military cyber and AI capabilities, the securitization of cryptocurrencies in MENA, and knowledge production in social sciences.
 
Education
She holds a Ph.D. in Euro-Mediterranean Studies, from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. Her thesis analyzed the role of the European Union in promoting democracy and human rights in Egypt, with an in-depth assessment of the Civil Society Facility instrument post-2011.
 
Languages
Arabic and English

Recent External Publications

• Cybersecurity in the GCC: From Economic Development to Geopolitical Controversy (with James Shires). Middle East Policy 22(1): 90-103, 2022. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mepo.12616
• Manipulating uncertainty: cybersecurity politics in Egypt. (with James Shires). Journal of Cybersecurity 7(1): 1-16, 2021.     https://academic.oup.com/cybersecurity/article/7/1/tyaa026/6137887
• The Challenges and Implications of Military Cyber and AI Capabilities in the Middle East: The Geopolitical, Ethical and Technological Dimensions (with Fatimah Ayad). In M. Eslami and A. Viera (eds.). The Handbook of Arms Race in the Middle East: Implications for Regional and International Security. Springer, 2023. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-32432-1_4
• Challenges to a transformative education: ‘EUrientalism’ at Egyptian universities (with Jan C. Völkel). In M. Pace & J. C. Völkel (eds.) Knowledge production in higher education: Between Europe and the Middle East. Manchester University Press, 2023.     https://www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781526160584/9781526160584.0001…
• Shrinking Civic Space: Egypt’s Counter-Terrorism Policy Post 9/11 and Beyond. In S. N. Romaniuk & E. T. Njoku (eds.). Terrorism and Civil Society: Post-9/11 Progress and Challenges. Manchester University Press, 2021.     https://www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781526157935/9781526157935.0002…
• Securitizing Cyberspace in Egypt: The Dilemma of Cybersecurity and Democracy (with Nardine Alnemr). In S. N. Romaniuk & M. Manjikian (eds.). Routledge Companion to Global Cyber-Security Strategy. Routledge, 2021. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429399718-50/se…
• Co-opting cybersecurity in Egypt (with James Shires). Atlantic Council, 11 May 2021.            https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/co-opting-cybersecurit…