Leyth Swidan

Leyth Swidan is a 2026–27 Millennium fellow and a Foreign Service officer at the US Department of State. He currently serves as the political-military affairs officer at the US Embassy Abu Dhabi. He most recently served as the Saudi Arabia and Oman desk officer and previously as a staff assistant to the assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, supporting efforts to strengthen US engagement in the Middle East. Prior to his Washington assignments, Swidan served in Denmark and Kuwait. He is an International Career Advancement Program fellow and Penn Kemble fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as a Middle East Policy Council 40 Under 40 and Arab America Foundation 30 Under 30 awardee. Swidan holds a master of public administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, where he was a Thomas R. Pickering fellow, and a bachelor of arts from Pomona College.