Dr. Heinrich Matthee

Director

Dr. Heinrich Matthee directs the Foundation’s research and the academics involved on a project basis. He is a member of the European Union’s High Level Group on Trade and Economic Resilience and has more than twenty years of experience in advising enterprises on strategic trends, internationalization and political impact management in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Dr. Matthee currently also is a non-residential researcher at the Emirates Policy Center, United Arab Emirates and a guest professor at universities in France and South Africa. Previously, he was a researcher at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi (2001-2005) and a London-based Middle East analyst for Control Risks (2005-2009) . Dr. Matthee has published several books and articles on politics, culture and business in the Middle East and Africa, the latest being a chapter on European business and political impact management in Iran in The Routledge Handbook of Political Risk (2025). He has two law degrees, two postgraduate degrees in strategy and international relations and a D.Phil. in political science magna cum laude from the University of Marburg (Germany).