Muhammad Dan Suleiman
Muhammad Dan Suleiman, PhD, AFHEA
Team Lead
Muhammad Dan Suleiman is a Ghanaian academic, researcher, and analyst with over a decade of combined experience in teaching, research, media, industry, and policy engagement. He is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at King Fahd University (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. Before joining KFUPM, he was a research associate and lecturer at Curtin University and the Curtin Centre for Australia-Africa Relations (2022-2024), and a research officer and lecturer at the University of Western Australia (2017-2021). He is the founder of the Centre for Alternative Politics & Security, West Africa (CAPS-WA), the parent organisation of the Africa Network of Critical Security Scholars (ANeCS).
Muhammad holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Western Australia (UWA). His research focuses on the international politics of Africa, with a particular emphasis on security, jihadist conflicts, and counter-terrorism in West Africa. His work has been published in leading journals such as Critical Studies on Terrorism, International Studies Quarterly, African Security, African Security Review, and Terrorism and Political Violence. His recent publications include “Journeying to Jihadiphate: A Vehicle Framework of Jihadist Conflicts in West Africa” (2024), “Abstract Spaces for Intervention in Libya and Nigeria” (2024) and “The Jihadists Are Coming! Abyssal Thinking and Spatial Politics of Un/knowing in Ghana’s Terrorism Discourse” (2023).
Muhammad is recognized as an expert on Sahel security, having provided analyses and reports for organisations worldwide, including the Horn Center for Democracy (Ethiopia), the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Foreign Brief (Australia), TRT World (Turkey), and Newzroom Afrika. He is a regular columnist for several media outlets in Ghana. His most recent expert contribution is writing for the Europa World Year Book’s Africa, South of the Sahara, on the topic of “The Sahel Today: Security, Sovereignty, and Change.”
He brings this expertise to ANeCS, where he supervises the network and advises the Executive Director in advancing alternative perspectives on security and decolonising approaches to terrorism studies in Africa. His deep commitment to exploring critical security studies and offering policy-relevant insights aligns with ANeCS's mission of promoting sustainable security solutions across the continent.
In addition to his research, Muhammad is a 2020 fellow of the United Nations Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA). His teaching and research excellence have been acknowledged through several awards, including the Khalifa Al-Falasi Prize in Muslim Studies (2018) and the UWA Guild Students’ Choice Award for Excellence in Teaching (2020).
Muhammad is passionate about mentoring young scholars and supporting individuals with physical and psychological challenges. He is from Ghana, West Africa.
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