Avraham Sela is Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and senior research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Institute. He studied for his BA, MA, and PhD at the Hebrew University and was recognized as one of Israel’s leading scholars of Arab politics, Palestinian nationalism, inter-Arab relations, and Arab–Israeli dynamics. Before his academic career he worked for many years as an analyst in the IDF’s intelligence research division, participating in peace talks and security negotiations. His work combined a balanced historical approach with analysis of political and social transformations in the Arab world.

Selected works:

• The Decline of the Arab–Israeli Conflict: Middle East Politics and the Quest for Regional Order (SUNY Press, 1998)
• The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, and Coexistence (Columbia University Press, 2000, with Shaul Mishal)
• Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East (Continuum, 2002, ed.)