Uniting
Research and Policy

Michael Semple is a Professor at The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen's University Belfast. He conducts research and dialogue, delivers policy advice and participates in the public debate on conflict and peace-making. He is considered a global expert on the Taliban movement. He researches the political culture of the Taliban and its implications for peace-making strategies. He has researched and advised on the inter-play between local and national level processes in peace-making.

Semple has worked and travelled extensively in Afghanistan and Pakistan for three decades. He has served with the United Nations and was Deputy to the European Union Special Representative in Afghanistan. During the COVID crisis he has been based in Afghanistan and is one of the few Westerners travelling extensively in the country. He has served as an Honorary Adviser to the Chair of the Afghan High Peace Council. His advice is widely sought by senior Afghans and international actors in the peace process.