Sara Khorshid

Sara Khorshid worked as a journalist and columnist in Egypt for fifteen years. Her articles have appeared in Foreign Policy, The New York Times, HuffPost, and numerous other outlets. She is currently writing her PhD in Canada’s Western University on the history of Egyptian-American mutual perceptions as represented in popular culture during the Cold War. Follow

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Jessica Agostinelli

Jessica Agostinelli joined MEI in December 2016, where she manages the programs team and supports the work of the Track II Dialogues Initiative. A graduate of American University’s School of International Service, Jessica studied in Amman, Jordan and worked for the Visions Center for Strategic and Development Studies. Prior to joining MEI, Jessica worked as

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Ibrahim Al-Assil

Ibrahim Al-Assil is a Middle East analyst and commentator. He is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. His work focuses on U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East, regional dynamics and cooperation, and political economy. Al-Assil is the founder and managing partner of Dynamics Advisory, a consulting firm that provides political risk

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Emiliano Alessandri

Emiliano Alessandri has managed the Mediterranean Partnership portfolio of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) since 2013. He is an expert on Euro-Mediterranean relations with a focus on North Africa. He has also published widely on Turkey. His research focuses on US-European approaches to the region and prospects for multilateral security dialogue.

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Dima M. Toukan

Dima Toukan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Integrated International, a development consulting firm based in Jordan and leading assignments and programming in the MENA region. Previously, Toukan served as Political/Women’s Issues Specialist at the MEPI Regional Office in Abu Dhabi covering Jordan, Yemen, and the GCC. She also served as Head of Communication

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Fatima Abo Alasrar

Fatima Abo Alasrar is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute. Before joining the Institute, Alasrar was a Senior Analyst at the Arabia Foundation in Washington DC, MENA Director for Cure Violence, Research Associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, a Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, and an International Policy

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Peter Schwartzstein

Peter Schwartzstein is an environmental journalist who covers water scarcity, food security, and the conflict-climate nexus across the Middle East and North and East Africa for American and British magazines. He is also an environmental consultant and a nonresident fellow at the Center for Climate and Security. His website is www.pschwartzstein.com and he Tweets at

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Marwa Fatafta

Marwa Fatafta leads Access Now’s work on digital rights in the Middle East and North Africa region as the MENA Policy Manager. She is an advisory board member of the Palestinian digital rights organization 7amleh, and a policy analyst at Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network working on issues of political leadership, governance and accountability. Before

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Risa Brooks

Dr. Brooks is the Allis Chalmers Associate Professor of Political Science and a non-resident senior associate in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Brooks’ research focuses on issues related to American and comparative civil-military relations, military effectiveness, and militant & terrorist organizations; she...

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