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Dr. Ebtesam Al Ketbi

President, Emirates Policy Center
Founder and President of the Emirates Policy Center (EPC), one of the most influential think tanks in the Arab world. She is a Professor of Political Science at the United Arab Emirates University. Dr. Al-Ketbi is widely regarded as part of the distinguished political elite in the United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf region. She served as a member of the Consultative Commission of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from 2015 to 2024.  In July 2018, the Arabian Business magazine featured her among the 50 Most Influential Women in the Arab world. In 2019, Dr. Al-Ketbi received the Women Super Achiever Award during the World Women Leadership Congress. In 2021, she was named Advisor to the Global Commission for Post-Pandemic Policy. In January 2023, Dr. Al-Ketbi was named an Advisory Board Member of T20 International. She is currently a Member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, the Global Advisory Board of the Observer Research Foundation in India, the Advisory Council of the Middle East Institute in Washington, the International Advisory Board of the Italian Med-Or Foundation, and the Indo-Pacific Civil Society Forum (IPCSF). She has also been accepted as a Global Member in the non-governmental “Trilateral Commission (Europe).”Dr. Al-Ketbi has recently published four books: The UAE’s Role in Empowering Religious Diplomacy (2023), The UAE Power Building Model: Mohamed bin Zayed’s Vision (2022), The UAE Power-Building Model and Foreign Policy Shifts (2021), and Iran and the Biden Administration: A Potential Return to Negotiations (2021).