Expertise:
US Middle East policies, US Congress, Islamist terrorism, Democratization, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Public Opinion, Arab-Israeli Conflict

Biography:
Lars received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the Friedrich-Schiller University where he also taught before joining Salford University in September 2007. In 2006-07 he was a British Academy Fellow at the Department of Politics at Newcastle University. He has studied, travelled and researched widely in the Middle East, including a one-year study stay at the American University in Cairo, as well as further research trips to Egypt, the Moshe Dayan Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies in Tel Aviv/Israel, and the King Faisal Centre for Islamic Research and Studies in Riyadh/Saudi Arabia. In 2002-03, he was one of two Germans to join the American Political Science Association's Congressional Fellowship Program which provided him with unique insights into the foreign-policy making process in the United States. In 2007, the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) recognized Lars's research with an award for the best Ph.D. dissertation of the year. Lars' current research interest focuses on images of the West and Western policies in Muslim public opinion. He has been a frequent commentator on various BBC TV and Radio channels regarding the political changes sweeping the Arab world since January 2011.

Qualifications:
2000 Study Abroad at American University in Cairo 2002 M.A. in Political Science, Islamic Studies and Sociology at Friedrich-Schiller University Jena/Germany 2006 Ph.D. Political Science (International Relations) at Friedrich-Schiller University Jena/Germany