Olivier Roy is Research Director at the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research). He holds a state "Agrégation" in Philosophy, a Master's in Persian language and civilization from the Institut National des Langues et Civilizations Orientales, and a PhD in political sciences from the IEP. He currently lectures at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (IEP) in Paris and has acted as consultant to the French Foreign Ministry (Center for Analysis and Forecast) since 1984. Olivier Roy was also a consultant with UNOCA on Afghanistan in 1988, special OSCE representative to Tajikistan (August 1993 to February 1994) and headed the OSCE Mission for Tajikistan from February to October 1994. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Globalized Islam.