Irfan Ahmed Nazir is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for West Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and he focuses on the national identity debates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and their influence on school education. He holds a master’s degree in politics and international relations from JNU and a bachelor’s degree in history, economics and political science from Christ University, Bangalore. His research interests include Middle Eastern geopolitics, the Emirati state, society and foreign policy, external actors in the Middle East, and migration and diaspora issues, with a focus on the South Asia-Gulf corridor. He tweets at @irfannazir_in.