Dr. Kayhan Valadbaygi is the founder and CEO of Middle East Risk & Reform Advisory. He is a specialist in international relations with nearly a decade of experience in research, teaching, and consultancy.

He holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Nottingham (UK) and has taught and researched at leading institutions, including Leiden University in the Netherlands, the University of Nottingham, and Nottingham Trent University in the UK. His expertise spans:

• Iran’s domestic politics & foreign policy

• Middle East geopolitics and regional geopolitical risk strategies

• Economic development and political economy of the Middle East

Dr. Valadbaygi has published extensively, including the monograph Capitalism in Contemporary Iran (Manchester University Press, 2024) and numerous peer-reviewed articles. He has also contributed policy-relevant research and commentary to think tanks, NGOs, and media outlets.

Fluent in English, Persian, and Kurdish (Sorani), with working knowledge of Arabic and basic knowledge of Dutch and Spanish, Dr. Valadbaygi brings linguistic and cultural insight that deepens his advisory work.

Books

• Capitalism in Contemporary Iran: Capital Accumulation, State Formation and Geopolitics (Manchester University Press, paperback 2026).

Recent Commentary and Analysis 

• How the Iran war exposed Abraham Accords as low-cost US hegemony, outsourced to Israel, The New Arab (9 June 2026).

• From Liberal Interventionism to Low-Cost Hegemony: Trump and the Structural Continuity of U.S. Middle East Strategy After 2008, PRISME Initiative (3 June 2026).

• Ahmadinejad, Delcy and the idiocy of late-stage US imperialism, The New Arab (27 May 2026).

• Why the US-Iran ceasefire is no path to peace, The New Arab (13 April 2026).

• Mojtaba Khamenei’s rumoured injury or death won’t change Iran’s trajectory, Al Jazeera English (1 April 2026).

• The Venezuela Illusion: The limits of “regime management” in Iran, Phenomenal World (12 Mar 2026).

• We know Trump’s endgame. But what is Tehran’s survival strategy?, The New Arab (03 Mar 2026).

• From Revolution to Multi-Crisis: The Political Economy of Iran’s Present Conjuncture, Jadaliyya (24 Feb 2026).

• Not even ‘madman’ Trump can pull off a regime change war in Iran, The New Arab (12 Feb 2026).

• Iran in Revolt: Neoliberalization, Sanctions, Repression, Phenomenal World (22 Jan 2026).

• Why Iran’s latest protests could go further than the last, The New Arab (15 Jan 2026).

• Why the once loyal bazaar merchants are now protesting in Iran, Al Jazeera English (10 Jan 2026).

• Beyond the IRGC: The Rise of Iran’s Military-Bonyad Complex, Clingendael Institute (02 Oct 2025).