Join the LSE Middle East Centre for this student careers panel and reception, with an opportunity to hear insights from panellists covering diverse fields of academia and research, journalism and consultancy in/around the Middle East.

The panellists will share honest insights on getting into their fields. This will also be an opportunity to meet LSE Middle East Centre staff and researchers, and find out more about the Centre's activities and opportunities.

Meet the speakers

Richard Barltrop is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. Since 2001 he has worked for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Iraq, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Yemen and regionally, and for the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and the UN political mission in Yemen. He has also worked as a mediation and negotiations advisor for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, the EU and the UK, on peacebuilding for International Alert, and for the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, the UN Refugee Agency and UN Women. He is the author of Darfur and the International Community: The Challenges of Conflict Resolution in Sudan (IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2011/2015).

Nada Bashir is an award-winning International Correspondent based at CNN’s London bureau. From reporting on the war in Gaza, to devastating natural disasters, Bashir has delivered distinctive coverage of some of the most consequential stories impacting our world, with a particular focus on the Middle East and Europe. In her earlier work as a Producer, Bashir played a key role in CNN’s coverage of the war in Yemen, travelling to the frontlines of Marib in 2021. She also worked with CNN’s Chief International Investigative Correspondent Nima Elbagir to shed light on the dire humanitarian crisis gripping Yemen, gaining an Emmy nomination for the team’s investigation into the country’s hunger crisis. Nada holds a master’s degree in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Alexandra Gomes is a Research Fellow responsible for coordinating spatial analysis across a range of projects at LSE Cities. Additionally, she holds teaching positions at UCL Bartlett School of Planning and serves as a Guest Teacher for the LSE MSc City Design and Social Science. Committed to shaping the future of cities through innovative research and education, her focus spans socio-spatial comparative analysis, urban policy, inequalities, health, sustainable mobility, public space, urban sensescapes, and visual communication. Her expertise extends globally, as she has led and coordinated research projects across diverse scales and geographies, spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Her work has been supported by entities such as the European Commission, governmental and non-governmental organisations, and philanthropies.

Mina Toksoz is an International Economist having worked at the Economist Intelligence Unit variously as Editorial Director of the Middle East, Europe, and the Country Risk Service. She was Senior Equity Strategist EMEA at AbnAmro, Senior Manager of Country Risk at Standard Bank and later Lloyds’ Bank. Former Associate Fellow of Chatham House, International Economics and Finance Department, she has written widely on Turkey, Middle East and Emerging Markets. Toksoz is author of The Economist Guide to Country Risk published by Profile Books in 2014, and co-author of Industrial Policy in Turkey, published by Edinburgh University Press in 2023.

This event will be chaired by Professor Michael Mason, LSE Middle East Centre.

Michael Mason is Director of the Middle East Centre. At LSE, he is also Professor of Environmental Geography in the Department of Geography and Environment and an Associate of the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change and the Environment. He is interested in ecological politics and governance as applied to questions of accountability, security and sovereignty. 

The LSE Middle East Centre builds on LSE's long engagement with the Middle East and North Africa and provides a central hub for the wide range of research on the region carried out at LSE.