Omar Ashour

Omar Ashour is a British-Canadian security and military studies professor and a martial arts champion.

Born in Montreal, Ashour obtained his Bsc and MA from the American University in Cairo and has a doctorate degree from McGill University in Montreal, where he taught political science and martial arts.

Academic career

Ashour is Associate Professor of Security Studies in the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. He is the Founding Director of the Critical Security Studies Graduate Program (MCSS) and the director of the Strategic Studies Unit in the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies.[1] He was previously Director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Programme at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter (UK).[2] He is a specialist on Islamist movements and ideologies, democratization, terrorism and insurgency, and strategic studies. He is the author of How ISIS Fights: Military Tactics in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021)[3] and The Deradicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements, (London, New York: Routledge, 2009).[4] He is considered to be a leading expert on ending political violence and transitions from armed to unarmed activism.[5][6] Ashour has published extensively about de-radicalization, counter-narratives, and transitions to democracy.[7][8] His published works cover the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Arab and Muslim Communities in the West.[9]

Martial Arts

Ashour is a Taekwondo master and a well-decorated kickboxer. He was a member of the Egyptian National Taekwondo team. His record includes a bronze medal in the World Junior Taekwondo Championship and a silver medal in Africa’s Taekwondo championship.[10] He was the Egyptian national champion six times in the bantam and feather weight categories.[11] He was also the two-times national champion in Chinese Kickboxing (Sanshou). In 2007, he joined the Canadian National Karate Team and won the Gold medal in the World Koshiki Karate Championship in the middle-weight category, defeating seven-times World Champion, Masamitsu Hisataka via unanimous decision.[12]

References
  1. "Omar Ashour Doha Institute". Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  2. "Dr Omar Ashour – Arab and Islamic Studies – University of Exeter". Socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  3. Ashour, Omar (February 28, 2021). "How ISIS Fights: Military Tactics in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt (Paperback, Hardback, Ebook)". Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  4. Ashour, Omar (April 6, 2009). "The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements (Hardback)". Routledge. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  5. http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php?option=com_rokzine&view=article&id=39&Itemid=54
  6. Archived October 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. Ashour, Omar (June 1, 2011). "Post-Jihadism: Libya and the Global Transformations of Armed Islamist Movements". Terrorism and Political Violence. 23 (3): 377–397. doi:10.1080/09546553.2011.560218.
  8. Ashour, Omar (July 13, 2011). "BBC News – Egypt secularists and liberals afraid of democracy?". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  9. "Omar Ashour Doha Institute". Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  10. "The Official Taekwondo Hall Of Fame® – Ecuador – Egypt". Lacancha.com. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  11. "TAEKWONDOHALLOFFAME.COM – Tae Kwon Do Hall Of Fame – Taekwondo Hall of Fame – TaeKwon-Do Hall of Fame – Taekwon-do Hall of Fame – taekwondo hall of fame – Mike Warren – Joe Hayes – Albert Cheeks & Others!". taekwondo hall of fame. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  12. "World Koshiki Karate Championships 2007 middle weight Div". YouTube. September 24, 2007. Retrieved October 19, 2011.

Articles by Omar Ashour

Interviews
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