▼
Azim Zahir is a political scientist and lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Asian Studies and Politics, the University of Western Australia (UWA). He is also a research fellow with the Centre for Muslim States and Societies, UWA. Azim gained his PhD in Political Science and International Relations from UWA in 2019. His research interests include Islam and democratisation, religious freedom, South Asian politics, and the role of religion in political violence.
Azim has extensive experience working with the public sector and civil society. He worked in the Maldivian President’s Office for about seven years and the Transparency International chapter in the Maldives for two years. He has conducted research for several international organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme, Adam Smith International, and Moonshot CVE, UK. Azim is the author of Islam and Democracy in the Maldives: Interrogating Reformist Islam’s Role in Politics (Routledge 2021), based on his doctoral dissertation.