Philip Seib is one of the world's leading authorities on the intersection of media and foreign policy. A frequent visitor to the Middle East, he has examined Arab politics in books such as The Al Jazeera Effect (2008) and Real-Time Diplomacy (2012). Seib is Professor of Journalism, Public Diplomacy, and International Relations at the University of Southern California, and was named International Communication Distinguished Scholar by the International Studies Association. He is author and editor of more than two dozen books and writes frequently for Huffington Post about terrorism and international politics. His interest in terrorism was piqued when he found himself just 40 miles from Mosul as that city was being seized by Islamic State in 2014.