Research Interests

International Politics, Conflict Resolution, Development and Civil Society, MENA, and Peacebuilding

Biography

Dr Ibrahim Natil has published many works, including seven books, taught at different academic institutions and worked for many international and civil society organisations. Natil is a Research Fellow at the Institute of International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction (IICRR) at Dublin City University (DCU), taught politics and business at CTYI-DCU and diplomacy and international relations at Joaan Bin Jasim Academy for Defence Studies and design thinking at the University of Law, UK. Natil is the Co-convenor of NGOs in Development Study Group, DSA-UK and awarded more than 60 civil society grants and awards including the winner of the Robert Chamber Best Overall Paper, selected by DSA Ireland (2017). Natil has invited a guest/visiting lecturer to a number of universities and has acted as an external examiner at a number of well-known universities such as Glasgow Caledonian (2021), Durham University (2020) and Bradford University (2018/2021).

Contact Details

Books

• Natil, I. (2023) Public Diplomacy and Civil Society Organisations. Routledge, Oxford and New York. https://www.routledge.com/Public-Diplomacy-and-Civil-Society-Organisations/Natil/p/book/9781032578897
• Natil, I. (2022) New Leadership of Civil Society: Community Development and Engagement. Routledge, Oxford and New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003288145
• Natil, I. (2021) Youth Civic Engagement and Local Peacebuilding in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects and Challenges for Community Development. Routledge, Oxford and New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003183747 
• Natil, I. (2021) Conflict, Civil society and Women’s empowerment: Insights from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Emerald Publishing https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conflict-Civil-Society-Womens-Empowerment/dp/1800710615  
• Natil, I., Sai, Y. and Malila, V. (2020) Barriers to effective Civil Society Organisations: Political, Social and Funding Shifts. Routledge, Oxford and New York  https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003053040
• Natil, I., Pieroban, C. and Tauber, L. (2019) The Power of Civil Society in the Middle East and North Africa: Peacebuilding, Change and Development  https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429265006  

Selected Peer Reviewed Articles and Chapters

• Natil, I. & Pulla, V. (2022) Civil Society Shifts, Challenges and Responses to COVID-19: Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Journal Space and Culture, India 2022, 10:3 https://doi.org/10.20896/saci.v10i3.1245
• Natil, I. (2021) Introducing challenges to youth civic engagement and local peacebuilding in Youth Civic Engagement and Local Peacebuilding in the Middle East and North Africa. Routledge, Oxford and New York.   https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003183747
• Natil, I. (2020) Women’s Community Peacebuilding in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). In: Richmond O., Visoka G. (Ed.) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_47-1
• Natil, I and Abuzanouna, B. (2020) Palestinian media between partisanship and propaganda Routledge Handbook on Arab Media, 275-285
• Natil, I.  (2019) The power of civil society: Young leaders’ engagement in non-violent actions In Natil, I., Pieroban, C. and Tauber, L. The Power of Civil Society in the Middle East and North Africa: Peacebuilding, Change and Development  https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429265006
• Natil, I.  (2018) “Dynamiques citoyennes sous l’occupation”, État des luttes – Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord, Collection ‘Alternatives Sud’, Paris/Louvain-la-Neuve, Syllepse/CETRI, décembre 2018 (French version) https://www.cetri.be/Palestine-dynamiques-citoyennes
• Natil, I.  (2017) Civil state in the post Arab Spring Countries: Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, in “the Arab Spring, Civil Society and Innovative Activism”, (Ed.)  Cenap Çakmak, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers Ltd https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57177-9_10
• Natil, I. (2017) Youth Movement and the Arab Spring, “Non-Western Social Movements and Participatory Democracy in the Age of Transnationalism” (Ed.) Ekim Arbatli, Dina Rosenberg, Springer  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51454-3_3
• Natil, I. (2017) Turkish NGOs in the Arab Spring: Human Security or Foreign Policy Agenda? “The New Turkey? Domestic and Regional Uncertainties”, Edited Ozgur TUFEKCI, Cambridge Scholars Publishing http://www.cambridgescholars.com/domestic-and-regional-uncertainties-in-the-new-turkey
• Natil, I. (2016) “Turkey’s Foreign Policy Challenges in the Syrian Crisis.” Irish Studies in International Affairs, 2016, pp. 1–10 www.jstor.org/stable/10.3318/isia.2016.27.8.
• Natil, I. (2016), the Challenges and Opportunities of Donor-Driven Aid to Youth Refugees, Journal of Peace building and Development https://doi.org/10.1080%2F15423166.2016.1197791
• Natil, I.  (2014) A shifting Political Landscape: NGOs Civic Activism and Response in the Gaza Strip, 1967–2014, Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 9:3, 82-87 https://doi.org/10.1080%2F15423166.2014.983369

Ongoing Research Projects

• Natil, I. (2024) Civil Society Shifts, Challenges and Responses to Violence, COVID-19 and Military Intervention.
• Natil, I. (2025) Barriers to Small States’ Diplomacy, Security and Civil society

Selected Awards and Honours 

• 2023-current, Advisory Board member of school of social science, University of Westminster, UK.
• 2003-2023, Awarded/won 65 grants from 20 well-known international donors including some from the European Union, Middle East Partnership Initiative, MBI Al Jaber Foundation and The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) to lead various range of peacebuilding, women’s empowerment and human rights programmes and projects since 2003.
• 2018, Awarded the best overall paper, “International NGOs: Women’s Engagement in Community Peacebuilding and Development” Development Studies Association, Ireland.

Blog posts

Writer and Contributor to Australia Independent https://independentaustralia.net/profile-on/ibrahim-natil,481

Visiting Lecturer and Invited/Guest Speaker

• 2023, Visiting Lecturer, University of Law, London-UK, teaching design thinking
• 2023, Visiting Lecture, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, taught public diplomacy.
• 2019-2018, Markfield Institute, Leicester, delivered 14 lectures on civil society in development.
• 2018, Department of Geography, Trinity College Dublin. Delivered a lecture ‘INGOs: women’s community peacebuilding and development’.
• 2018, Department of Social Sciences, University of East London. Delivered a lecture ‘Youth movement, civil society and conflict challenges in Libya and Palestine’
• 2016, Department of Law, University of Maynooth, Ireland, Delivered a lecture ‘Post Gaza 2014 war and challenges of reconstruction process’.
• 2017, Development Studies Association, conference final plenary session. Presented “civil society challenges in conflict context’
• 2018, Development Studies Association, conference final plenary session. Presented “civil society challenges in conflict context’
• 2016, Arab World Institute. Presented ‘civil society challenges in the occupied Palestinian Territories’.
• 2016, Arab World Institute. Presented ‘Hamas crisis: resistance, governance and transformation’.
• 2014, Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University. Delivered a lecture “ Media role in conflict resolution”.

Selected Leading Panels

• 2023, Barriers to NGOs and CSOs: the current crises of environment and development, Development Studies Association, UK.
• 2022, Challenges to Justice and Equity in a post-Pandemic Context: civil society responses, Development Studies Association, UK.
• 2021, Learning from unprecedented times: NGOs and CSOs through the COVID-19 pandemic, Development Studies Association, UK.
• 2020, ‘Exploring Civil Society Leadership’, Development Studies Association, UK,
• 2019, ‘Shifting Political Landscape’, Development Studies Association, UK, the Open University.
• 2019, ‘The complexity of political landscape: power of civil society’ Political Science Association Ireland, Maynooth University.
• 2017, ‘Youth Movements in the Middle East: Mobilization, Ideologies and State Building’ International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), University of Jena.
• 2014, ‘Turkey and the Arab Spring’ International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), University of Cologne.

Selected Conferences

• 2022, Barriers to community development: Violence, ineffective participation and policy constraint, Development Studies Association, Ireland
• 2022, Challenges to Justice and Equity in a post-Pandemic Context: civil society responses, Development Studies Association, UK.
• 2021, ‘Unsettling Development’, Learning from unprecedented times: NGOs and CSOs through the COVID-19 pandemic, Development Studies Association, UK.
• 2021, Royal Irish Academy. Presented ‘COVID-19 and Civil Society Organisations’ Shifts and Challenges: Libya, Lebanon and Palestine?
• 2020, ‘Exploring Civil Society Leadership’, Development Studies Association, UK.
• 2019, Political Science Association, Ireland: Presented “Civil society challenges in Libya: peacebuilding, state-building and humanitarian assistance”.
• 2019, Development Studies Association, UK. Presented “Shifting political landscape: unstable NGOs”.
• 2018, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin. Presented “EU Aid and women’s empowerment”.
• 2018, Development Studies Association, UK. Manchester University. Presented ‘Civic activism, participatory engagement and community peacebuilding’.
• 2018, Centre for Peace, Social Cohesion and Trust, Coventry University. Presented ‘Women’s engagement in non-violence resistance’.
• 2017, Development Studies Association Ireland International. Presented ‘INGOs: women’s community peacebuilding and development’.
• 2016, Conflict Research Studies, Trinity College Dublin. Presented ‘Local and international organisations intervention in Libya.
• 2016, Royal Irish Academy. Presented ‘Does Turkey’s Foreign Policy Fail in Syria?