Rate My Professor Kylie Moore-Gilbert

Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert is a Macquarie University Research Fellow (MQRF) in the School of International Studies within the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University, joining in 2024. She is a political scientist specialising in the Middle East, with her current research project focusing on wrongful detention and hostage diplomacy. Moore-Gilbert holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Middle East Studies from the University of Cambridge. Prior to her appointment at Macquarie, she served as a Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her academic trajectory reflects a commitment to Middle Eastern political science, informed by her extensive regional expertise.

Moore-Gilbert has produced impactful publications across books, peer-reviewed articles, and reports. Her memoir, The Uncaged Sky: My 804 Days in an Iranian Prison (Ultimo Press, 2022), offers a firsthand account of hostage diplomacy and has achieved bestseller status, broadening public understanding of wrongful detention. Key scholarly works include 'Hostage taking or hostage making? The case for prioritising outcomes in identifying and modelling hostage diplomacy' (co-authored with D. Conduit, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 2026), 'Evaluating Australia's consular management of cases of wrongful and arbitrary detention' (Australian Journal of Political Science, 2025), and 'Authoritarian downgrading, (self)censorship and new media activism after the Arab Spring' (co-authored with Z. Abdul-Nabi, New Media & Society, 2021). In 2024, she completed a commissioned report for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia, 'To explore international best practice to improve Australia's approach to wrongful detention,' as part of her Churchill Fellowship. With a total of 12 research outputs documented on her Macquarie University profile, her contributions span security studies, public policy, and international relations. Moore-Gilbert's expertise extends to public commentary, appearing regularly as a columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, influencing discourse on Middle East politics and hostage-taking practices.