Dr. Shelly Johny is an assistant professor of political science at St. Aloysius College, Thrissur, Kerala, South India, and honorary senior fellow in Middle Eastern studies and security studies at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), Kochi, Kerala. He completed his master’s in international relations at Middlesex University, London. He also holds a master’s and doctorate in West Asian (Middle Eastern) studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has held research positions at the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi, which is the think tank of the Indian Air Force, and the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis (IDSA), New Delhi, which is under the Ministry of Defence.