Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco is visiting researcher at Trends Research & Advisory (Abu Dhabi) and a Research Assistant at Gulf State Analytics (GSA), a Washington-based geopolitical risk consultancy. He has an MA degree in Comparative and International Relations from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and is completing a second MA degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the Graduate School of Economics and International Relations (ASERI) from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy.