Rasha was as Senior Analyst and the Head of the Nonstate Actors program in the Human Security Unit at the New Lines Institute. Prior to joining the Institute, Rasha was the editor in charge of “Irfaa Sawtak,” a U.S.-based platform that offers insights into post-conflict communities in Iraq and Syria through personal digital storytelling, essays, and photo collections.
Rasha has served as a fellow researcher at Foreign Policy Research Institute and George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. Before relocating to the United States, Rasha was on the editorial board at Al Mesbar Research and Studies Center in Dubai where she served as a researcher and security consultant.
Her commentary and publications focus on armed groups, radicalization, Middle Eastern geopolitics, and contemporary Iraqi politics and society. Her work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Independent, The National, The New York Times, and The American Interest.
She is an alum of the University of Mosul and holds a Masters of Arts in Translation and Linguistics. She tweets at @RashaAlAqeedi.
As the Taliban shifts from a flexible insurgency to a state authority, the group is increasingly facing the growing pains of trying to provide for the country’s security needs as it is in the process of establishing its emirate.
In this episode of the New Lines Institute’s Contours podcast series, widely respected academic Dr. Dana El Kurd sits down with Rasha Al Aqeedi and Nicholas Heras to discuss her groundbreaking research on an emerging generation of Palestinian civil society and political activists.
The Taliban want international recognition for their government in Afghanistan, but they are not likely to change their ways for the long term. Meanwhile, they will probably face some resistance both domestically and among Afghanistan’s neighbors as security concerns mount in South and Central Asia.
In this emergency edition of the Newlines Institute’s Contours podcast, Contours host Nicholas Heras talks through the short-term scenarios in Afghanistan and the geopolitical maneuvers to follow now that the Taliban stands triumphant in Kabul with Kamran Bokhari, Rasha Al Aqeedi, and Caroline Rose.
