Mona Kanwal Sheikh was born in Denmark, November 13, 1978. She has a Master Degree in Political Science and is specialized in radical Islamism and Security Studies. Since July 2007 she has been doctoral candidate at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. Her research project ‘Religion and Conflict Radical Islamism in International Relations’ seeks to develop theory and method to analyze the religious dimension of international conflicts and to strengthen the empirical knowledge on the religious and security discourses which condition radical Islamism. Since she is grantee of an International PhD scholarship, she will also be affiliated to the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara during her research period. As a consultant Mona has formerly been affiliated to the Danish Cultural Institute in Qatar and Bahrain and the Middle East/North Africa Department of MS Danish Association for International Co-operation. She is currently board member of the Documentation and Advisory Centre on Racial Discrimination (DRC) and vice chair of the INGO European Network Against Racism (ENAR). She has previously been board member of a number of organizations working for minority rights such as the Association of Ethnic Minorities (POEM) and the Integration Council of Copenhagen Municipality. Mona is an experienced debater and frequently gives lectures on issues related to Danish integration- and foreign politics, European Islam, religion and secularism and radical Islamism at different educational and religious institutions. As opinion columnist affiliated to different Danish national newspapers, Mona regularly commentates on contemporary local and global issues relating to the interplay between religion and politics. Mona has edited and contributed to a number of anthologies and produced several articles relating to these topics. During her many years' work in different NGOs, she has initiated and organized a significant number of dialogue conferences, information campaigns and welfare activities.