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Faysal Itani

Resident Senior Fellow

Faysal Itani is a Resident Senior Fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy. He is also an adjunct professor of Middle East politics at Georgetown University.  

Itani was born in and grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, and has lived and worked in several Middle East countries. Before joining the New Lines Institute, he was Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council working on U.S. policy in the Middle East. He has also worked in private intelligence as a risk analyst advising governments, corporations, and international organizations on political, economic, and security issues in the Middle East. Itani has repeatedly briefed the U.S. government and its allies on the conflict in Syria and its effects on their interests. He has been widely published and quoted in prominent media outlets including The New York Times, Time magazine, Politico, The Washington Post, CNN, U.S. News, Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.  

Itani holds a master’s in strategic studies and international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, a certificate in public policy from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor of Arts in business from the American University of Beirut. He tweets at @faysalitani.

Latest Articles

Is A Post-Hezbollah Lebanon Happening Now?: Podcast

The Middle East Center at The New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy is launching a new podcast series, “Lebanese Logic,” hosted by the center’s Resident Senior Fellow Faysal Itani. The series focuses on Lebanon’s political dynamics the future of Hezbollah, and important role in the geopolitics of the Middle East. In this inaugural episode, Itani and New Lines Institute Senior Director Nicholas A. Heras forecast Lebanon’s politics and foreign policy in the context of the rapidly shifting regional developments in the Middle East.

Governance

Inside the Lebanese Political System: the Operations of the Anti-Regime Opposition

Faysal Itani sits down with Lebanese political activist Alaa Sayeg to discuss Lebanese politics amid the worst economic situation in the country’s history. Viewed through the lens of Sayeg’s personal experience as an opposition politician in the May 2022 national elections, the discussion highlights the difficulties anti-regime activists face in the rigid Lebanese political system, as well as Hezbollah's role in the country.

Political Economy