Hamdi Malik is an associate fellow with The Washington Institute, specializing in Shia militias. He earned his doctorate at Keele University's School of Social, Political, and Global Studies. He is a cofounder of the Militia Spotlight platform, which offers in-depth analysis of developments related to the Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria. He is also coauthor of the Institute's 2020 study Honored, Not Contained: The Future of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces. He speaks Arabic and Farsi.