Mustafa Aryan is the executive director of the Security, Gender & Development Institute, which operates as an international volunteer network of experts producing research and events focused on a gendered analysis of international security topics. Mustafa has worked in Afghanistan's private and public sectors for the last 11 years. Prior to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fall of the Afghan government, he served as the director of policy and strategy at the Office of the Chief Executive of Afghanistan, and then as the director of the Regional and International Affairs Commission of Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation. Mustafa holds a BA in social science from Kabul University, an MA in international relations from the University of Afghanistan, and a second MA in international security studies from the University of Reading in the UK. He is a fellow of Women in International Security and of Salzburg Global Seminar.