Ruth Hanau Santini is an Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Naples L’Orientale and a Fellow at Brookings. She earned her MA from SOAS, University of London, and completed her PhD at the University of Naples Federico II. Her research focuses on European foreign policy, Middle East and North Africa politics, security, and food security, including advisory work with the World Food Programme. Between 2010–2011 she held a Visiting Fellowship at the Brookings Institution, and she continues to publish widely on post‑Arab Spring transitions, limited statehood, and humanitarian principles.