Alia began her career in academia at the University of Oxford and LSE and continues to specialise in the Middle East and North Africa at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington DC. Her focus is on defence issues and for the last five years she has also worked as a political advisor in Libya. In 2023 she will launch a project exploring the phenomenon of mercenaries. Alia is the adoring mother of two girls, Noor (9) and Lara (15 months). Much of her spare time is devoted to Plump‘d, a charity she started ten years ago which aims to alleviate severe acute malnutrition in children, with a focus on Syria and Yemen.
