Ali Riaz is a Distinguished Professor of political science at Illinois State University, USA, a Nonresident Senior Fellow of Atlantic Council, and the President of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies. He served as a Visting Scholar at the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2023) and as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at Washington D.C (2013). His research interests include democratization, violent extremism, and Bangladeshi politics. His recent publications include More than Meets the Eye (2022), Religion and Politics in South Asia (2021), Voting in a Hybrid Regime: Explaining the 2018 Bangladeshi Election (2019).