Berkley Center

Robert C. Blitt is a professor of law at the University of Tennessee College of Law. Blitt previously served as international law specialist for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. His research interests include issues related to the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief.

Peter Mandaville is a Berkley Center senior research fellow and, from 2022-2024, a senior advisor on religion and inclusive societies at the United States Institute of Peace. He is a professor of international affairs at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, where he also serves as the director of the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies. Previous government experience includes serving as a member of the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning Staff (2011-2012) and as a senior advisor in the department’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs (2015-2016). He has also been a visiting senior fellow at the Pew Research Center. His research focuses on the intersection of religion and international affairs, with a primary focus on Islam and the Muslim world. His publications include, among others, Wahhabism and the World (2022), Islam and Politics (2014, 2020), Global Political Islam (2007), and Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma (2001). He holds degrees from the University of St. Andrews and the University of Kent and has studied at the American University in Cairo.