Omar Nasr is a PhD candidate in International History at the LSE and currently a Visiting PhD Student at the University of Cambridge. His doctoral thesis, "The British Empire and Islam in the Second World War", is supervised by Dr David Motadel and Professor Marc Baer.
Before joining LSE, Omar studied History, Political Education, and German Philology at the University of Vienna, where he graduated with a BA in History. He received his MA in Near and Middle Eastern History from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Aside from his research at LSE, he currently teaches colonial and global history (HY113) at the Department of International History and works as the Religion Scholars Network Coordinator (RSN) at the LSE Faith Center and Religion and Global Society Research Unit. His current academic interests lie in colonialism and Islam, the history of Muslims in Europe, interfaith history and, more broadly, the intersections of war, politics and religion in the modern world.
Provisional thesis title: The British Empire and Islam in the Second World War
Supervisor: Dr David Motadel
My doctoral thesis is the first study to systematically examine Britain's Islam-related policies during the Second World War. Drawing on extensive research in primary sources from the UK, US, Germany, Egypt, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, India, and Nigeria, the dissertation explores Britain's efforts to win over and mobilise Muslims across the Empire for their war effort. Ultimately, it demonstrates the crucial role Muslims played in Britain's victory over the Axis powers while addressing the complexities of Anglo-Muslim relations during this period.