WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security named Bilal Y. Saab as the director of its Middle East Peace and Security Initiative (MEPSI). Previously, Saab served as MEPSI’s resident senior fellow. He has more than fourteen years of experience working as a political-military analyst, adviser, and corporate manager on the Middle East.
“At a time of unprecedented change, risks, and opportunity in the Middle East, we need someone with the keenest policy instincts, the deepest defense analytic record, and the ability to lead and collaborate with our wide range of regional and American partners. Bilal Saab fit those needs perfectly.” said Barry Pavel, Vice President, Arnold Kanter Chair, and Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center.
As a subject matter expert on Middle East security and politics with fluency in the Arabic and French languages, Saab specializes in the countries of the Levant and the Gulf Cooperation Council, and chairs the Gulf Policy Working Group and ISIS War Game Series at the Atlantic Council. He is also a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of several research organizations in the United States and the Middle East.
“I am deeply grateful and honored to be granted the privilege to lead a talented and tireless team at the Scowcroft Center’s Middle East Peace and Security Initiative,” Bilal Y. Saab commented. “In partnership with the Hariri Center, and in consultation with our partners in Washington and the region, we will build off of the vast body of work we have done on regional security over the past couple of years and complement it with impactful and policy-relevant analysis on the understudied but vastly important trends of innovation, entrepreneurship, and individual empowerment in the Middle East.”
Saab’s prolific writing and scholarship have been published in reputable academic journals and policy outlets. Additionally, he has contributed commentary for global newspapers and magazines including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Newsweek, and regularly appears on various shows and editions of CNN, BBC, NPR, France 24, Al Jazeera, and Al Arabiya. Throughout his career, he has engaged extensively with various agencies in the US government, providing private briefings and public testimonies on a range of regional security and political issues.
Established in 2012 as a core practice area of the Brent Scowcroft Center, the Middle East Peace and Security Initiative brings together thought leaders and experts from the policy, business, and civil society communities to design innovative strategies to tackle present and future challenges in the region.
For more information about the Brent Scowcroft Center or interviews with any of its experts, please contact at press@AtlanticCouncil.org.
###
The Atlantic Council is a nonpartisan organization that promotes constructive US leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the central role of the Atlantic community in meeting today’s global challenges. For more information, please visit AtlanticCouncil.org and follow us on Twitter @AtlanticCouncil.