Hameed Hakimi leads the Afghanistan Research and Policy Initiative (ARPI) at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies. With over 15 years of experience in research design, policy analysis, and project management, his research has focused on the conflicts, politics and society within South Asia with a primary emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since 2013, his work on Afghanistan has centred on the nexus between development, state-building, peace, violence and security. He has an established track record in leading multi-stakeholder strategic dialogues, high-impact consultative roundtables and institutional partnerships. He has designed projects that combine rigorous methodologies, innovative practices, and multidimensional approaches that draw on the importance of grassroots engagement and non-Western understandings of complex contexts.

As a member of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge, his interdisciplinary doctoral research at the Department of Sociology critically examines the reconceptualization of the notion of Security and the securitisation of migration with a methodological focus on lived experiences of marginalisation in Europe. He obtained his MSc in International Security and Global Governance from Birkbeck College, University of London, his BA in Politics (with honours) from Queen Mary University of London, and his qualification in research methodologies from the University of Birmingham. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Programme in Chatham House (London) and a Senior Fellow [non-resident] at the South Asia Center in Atlantic Council (Washington D.C.).  

In addition to senior roles across think tanks, Hameed has held independent specialist advisory roles at the British parliamentary committees, such as the Foreign Affairs Committee, in the United Kingdom. He has briefed governments and senior officials, presented at high-level and international conferences, and has published for policy and academia. His opinion pieces have been featured in major outlets (e.g., The Guardian, The Diplomat). His policy paper on the drivers of migration to Europe contributed to the findings presented to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, at the Vision Europe Summit 2016 in Lisbon.

Hameed has provided extensive commentary on major global outlets such as CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera, France 24, TRT World, Bloomberg TV, and the VOA. He was a speaker at TEDx Oxford 2018.