Afshin Molavi Biography

Afshin Molavi is an internationally respected geopolitical risk and business analyst whose expertise falls squarely in the intersection of four key trends shaping the future of our world: the rise of emerging markets; Middle East political and economic risks; the South-South trade revolution; and US foreign, security, and economic policy.

He has written extensively on “The New Silk Road,” which he describes as “the dramatically growing geo-commercial, geo-economic, and geo-political ties linking the Middle East and Asia.” He has also coined the term HUBSS for Hong Kong, UAE, Bombay (Mumbai), Shanghai, and Singapore – the key hub cities fuelling the rise of Asia and, thus, vital to the global economy.

Author of the acclaimed “Soul of Iran” (2005), described by Foreign Affairs as “a brilliant tableau of today’s Iran,” Molavi’s expertise on Iran has been recognised worldwide. He has provided briefings on Iran and the broader Middle East region at the highest levels of the US and UK governments and has spoken widely to foreign ministries around the world. A former Riyadh based correspondent with the Arab News and Dubai-based correspondent with Reuters, Molavi is also intimately familiar with leadership networks and key trends facing the Gulf Arab states. He is a widely quoted specialist on the rise of Dubai and its role as a geo-economic hub.

Molavi has served as a senior scholar and fellow at some of the America’s most prestigious think tanks. He is currently Director of the Global Emerging and Growth Markets Initiative, Johns Hopkins University Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and Senior Global Advisor at Oxford Analytica.