Rudy Jaafar is currently a PhD candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. His interests and research include the international politics of the Middle East, with a specific emphasis on the Persian Gulf region. Mr. Jafaar is also active in Lebanese civil society organizations that work to promote greater transparency, accountability and reform of the system of government. He was a lecturer at the Department of Political Studies and Public Administration at the American University of Beirut in 2005-2006. Mr. Jafaar was recently in Lebanon researching the dynamics of the 2005 "Independence Intifada" and the reform of the electoral system.