Amal Kandeel is a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. She specializes in the political economy of the Middle East, and particularly in water and food security, agriculture and climate change, and poverty and rural development issues. Her work has been focused on Egypt, as well as on Jordan, Syria, Morocco, and the UAE.
Amal worked previously as an independent analyst and advisor, lecturer, and writer on socioeconomic development and political economy issues in the Middle East, providing specialized services to organizations that included the Library of Congress, Georgetown University, the United States Institute of Peace, and Qatar National Food Security Program, as well as other U.S. and Arab organizations. She has lectured in venues in the United States, Egypt, Jordan, and Germany on peace and development, economics, food and water security, and international water law. Her work and articles have been published inside and outside the United States, including by the United States Institute of Peace; Economists for Peace and Security; MEC, London; Arab Studies Quarterly; Middle East Policy; The National, UAE; Al-Arabiya News; and Saudi Gazette. During her advisory work, she also founded and led Pioneers International, a services company established to facilitate the adoption of progressive development solutions and technologies in Middle East countries.
Amal is also a self-taught artist whose artwork mainly depicts Egyptian and Arab cultures and environments as part of her interest in the visual preservation of symbols of these cultures.