Reza Pankhurst is a political scientist and historian, specialising in the Middle East and Islamic movements. He was previously a political prisoner of the Hosni Mubarak regime due to his membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir. His case was adopted by Amnesty International and covered extensively in the media. He was released in March 2006 and, upon his return to the UK, entered academia. In 2007, he completed a Master's degree in History of International Relations at the London School of Economics (LSE). He was awarded his PhD from the LSE, Government department in 2011.