Joze Pelayo is associate director for strategic initiatives and policy at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. He manages the Council’s work on US-Gulf Arab states security cooperation, producing forward-looking analysis and engagement with direct implications for regional and national security. He also manages the Council’s China-Middle East line of work and its affiliated podcast.

His work supports high-level policy dialogues, analysis, and engagement on strategic issues in the Gulf, with a focus on regional security, diplomacy, and US foreign policy. In 2023, Pelayo was listed by the Middle East Policy Council’s 40 Under 40 awards for rising Middle East experts.

Prior to joining the Council, Pelayo held research and programming roles at the Arab Gulf States Institute and the Arab Center Washington DC, where he worked on Iran’s regional influence, Gulf economic diplomacy, and US policy during the Arab Spring. He has lived and worked in Lebanon, Russia, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, the UAE, among others.

Pelayo is proficient in Modern Standard Arabic and the Lebanese dialect and is a former recipient of the Sultan Qaboos Arabic Language Scholarship (2018-2021) and an alumnus of the National Council of US-Arab Relations (NCUSAR). He completed his MA in International Development from the University of Oregon with a certificate in Nonprofit Management and a BA in Political Science from Southern Arkansas University.