Daniah Jarrah is a program assistant with the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs.

Her research and professional interests center on civil society and peacebuilding in conflict-affected settings, political violence and reconciliation, and the role of international policy and donor dynamics in shaping governance and post-conflict recovery across the Middle East.

Jarrah serves as a peace fellow with the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, where she has conducted qualitative research on civil society peacebuilding in Lebanon amid overlapping political, economic, and displacement crises. Her work examines local actor engagement, donor conditionality, and the structural constraints facing grassroots organizations operating in fragmented and highly politicized environments. She has also contributed to research and analysis with the Alliance for Peacebuilding and the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, engaging questions of localization, institutional trust, and conflict-sensitive policy design.

Jarrah brings strong academic training in conflict resolution, risk assessment, and Arab studies. Her scholarship engages theories of structural violence, trauma, and political economy, with a regional focus on Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Palestine. She has presented research on civil society and peacebuilding at academic and policy forums.

Jarrah holds a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science in international and global studies from the University of Central Florida, where she graduated with top honors. She has completed advanced training in mediation and fragility, conflict, and violence, and is fluent in Arabic, with working knowledge of Farsi.