Lydia Khalil

Program Director, 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 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).

Concerns over Saudi Arabia go far beyond Khashoggi
Concerns over Saudi Arabia go far beyond Khashoggi
The death of the dissident journalist has exacerbated regional worry about the many missteps by the Saudi Crown Prince.
Egypt’s new media law is ahead of the curve
Egypt’s new media law is ahead of the curve
The regime has unabashedly claimed that what is up is down and what is black is white.
Trump's goal is regime change
Commentary
Trump's goal is regime change
Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.Lydia Khalil
Decay and new growth
Decay and new growth
The Middle East lacks the frameworks needed to capitalise on green shoots of change.
In Syria, Trump must collude with Russia
In Syria, Trump must collude with Russia
Airstrikes aside, the US needs Moscow to influence the Assad regime and negotiate an end to this sordid conflict.
Favourites of 2017: The Exile
Favourites of 2017: The Exile
It is a revealing and compelling read that recounts a hidden history of an organisation that transformed the world. 
Worst enemy: Kurdistan’s history of infighting
Worst enemy: Kurdistan’s history of infighting
The Kurds may like to say they have no friends but the mountains, but their family has a history of letting them down too.
Kurdistan precarious but steadfast on eve of referendum
Kurdistan precarious but steadfast on eve of referendum
The allure of a referendum on Kurdish independence has overridden the practical implications and very real risks.
Islamic State is changing the face of terrorism
Islamic State is changing the face of terrorism
Not only has the jihadist threat increased, the nature of the threat has evolved significantly.
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