Lydia Khalil

Program Director, Transnational Challenges
Lydia Khalil
Biography
Publications
News and media

Lydia Khalil is Program Director of the Transnational Challenges Program at the Lowy Institute. She manages the Digital Threats to Democracy Project.

Lydia has spent her career focusing on the intersection between governance, technology and security. She has a broad range of policy, research and private sector experience and has a professional background in international relations, national security and strategic intelligence analysis, with a particular focus on terrorism and other forms of political violence.

Lydia is also a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University’s Alfred Deakin Institute, where she is the co-convener of the Addressing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation to Terrorism (AVERT) Research Network. Lydia is a research member of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS), where she leads the Crisis Points project on the intersection of disasters, extremism and disinformation. She serves as an editorial board member of the academic journal Studies in Conflict & Terrorism.

Lydia has held previous appointments as an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and Macquarie University. She has previously served as an adviser with the US Department of Defense and as a senior policy and intelligence adviser to the Boston Police Department. She has also worked as a senior counter-terrorism and intelligence analyst for the New York Police Department.

Lydia is a frequent media commentator and has published widely in both popular and academic publications on her areas of expertise. She holds a BA in International Relations from Boston College and a Master’s in International Security from Georgetown University.

She is the author of the book Rise of the Extreme Right: The New Global Extremism and the Threat to Democracy (Penguin, 2022).

Why is the “Arab street” so silent on the Israel-UAE deal?
Why is the “Arab street” so silent on the Israel-UAE deal?
Barely any outcry marked this latest shift, which probably reflects recognition of facts on the ground.
Under the influence: Peddling conspiracy in a pandemic
Under the influence: Peddling conspiracy in a pandemic
Lifestyle and wellness personalities are lending conspiracy theorists a glossy sheen, and not without danger.
Cross-Promotion
Commentary
Cross-Promotion
Originally published on GNET Insights.
Need To Know: Ed Davis on US policing and Black Lives Matter
Need To Know: Ed Davis on US policing and Black Lives Matter
Many community-minded police leaders complain they are deputised to enforce society’s failures and unfair structures.
Black lives make America great
Commentary
Black lives make America great
It is African American civil society that has historically held up a mirror to America and made it live up to its ideals. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.
Black Americans Push U.S. to Live Up To Its Ideals
Commentary
Black Americans Push U.S. to Live Up To Its Ideals
Originally published by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Need To Know: Ben Hubbard on the Mohamed bin Salman power grab
Need To Know: Ben Hubbard on the Mohamed bin Salman power grab
The Saudi Crown prince has enacted sweeping positive reforms, yet did so by embracing authoritarianism.
US: Powerful unions protect police – from reform
US: Powerful unions protect police – from reform
Changes to police culture have been obstructed by police unions who are often more powerful than police chiefs.
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