Lydia Khalil

Project Director, Digital Threats to Democracy Project; Research Fellow, Transnational Challenges
Areas of expertise

Terrorism and violent extremism; digital technology; disinformation; authoritarianism; national security; emergency management and countering violent extremism; crisis and natural disasters; radicalisation; counterterrorism; policy; Middle East; US national security

Lydia Khalil
Biography
Publications

Lydia Khalil is a Research Fellow on Transnational Challenges 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).

Sistani: The (not-so) hidden hand behind Iraqi politics
Sistani: The (not-so) hidden hand behind Iraqi politics
The influential Shiite cleric has avoided formal participation in government, but what he does now could be critical.
The vulnerable state of Islamic State
The vulnerable state of Islamic State
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was likely trying to forge an alliance to stave off fighters defecting to other jihadi groups.
Trump’s troop withdrawal and what’s next for Islamic State
Trump’s troop withdrawal and what’s next for Islamic State
Having pre-emptively declared the militant group “100% defeated”, the pull back from Syria raises different threats.
The curious case of Hamza bin Laden’s death
The curious case of Hamza bin Laden’s death
Why is the world only now hearing about the apparent death of the al-Qaeda scion, and will it hurt the terrorist group?
‪ISIS: women’s work?
‪ISIS: women’s work?
The courts should regard crucial domestic, educational and other influences by women in ISIS as terrorist “support”.
Behind the Veil: Women in jihad after the caliphate
Analyses
Behind the Veil: Women in jihad after the caliphate
How the Islamic State has expanded the role of women in jihad and what that means for the future of jihad
Caliph emerges without his caliphate
Caliph emerges without his caliphate
From the clothes to the location, the ISIS leader’s video tells much about the group’s ambition.
Islamic State's three tactics that will bring terror closer to home
Commentary
Islamic State's three tactics that will bring terror closer to home
Originally published in ABC Opinion. Lydia Khalil
Sri Lanka’s perfect storm of failure
Commentary
Sri Lanka’s perfect storm of failure
Originally published in Foreign PolicyLydia Khalil
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