Ashraf Mishrif is the founding chair of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Research Chair for Economic Studies, Humanities Research Centre, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Prior to that he was Associate Professor at King’s College London and taught at several universities in the United Kingdom and the Gulf countries. He also served as Cultural Advisor for the Egyptian Embassy Cultural Bureau in London, Managing Director of the London-based consulting firm EU-Med International, and Industrial Development Consultant, UNIDO, Vienna. He is an expert in economic development and the political economy of the Middle East and has authored more than 90 books, chapters, and peer-reviewed and conference papers, including two volumes on economic diversification and nationalization of the labour market in the GCC.