Mouin Rabbani

Nonresident Fellow

Bio

Mouin Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He is a researcher, analyst, and commentator specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and contemporary Middle East issues.  

Among other previous positions, Rabbani served as principal political affairs officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, head of the Middle East unit with the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, and senior Middle East analyst and special advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group. He was also a researcher with Al-Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists.  

Rabbani is a co-editor of Jadaliyya, where he also hosts the Connections podcast and edits its Quick Thoughts feature. He is also the managing editor and associate editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development and a contributing editor of Middle East Report. In addition, Rabbani is a nonresident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) and at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). 

Rabbani has published, presented, and commented widely on Middle East issues for many major print, television, and digital media.  

Research Areas

  • Arab-Israeli Conflict 
  • US-Middle East Policy 
  • Contemporary Middle East Issues 

Countries of Focus

  • Palestine 
  • Syria 
  • United States 

Other Areas of Interest

  • GCC 
  • Regional Developments 

Education

  • M.A., Arab Studies, Georgetown University, 1988 
  • B.A., International Relations and History, Tufts University, 1986 

Articles

In this Council Views, ME Council experts react to Donald Trump’s re-election, analyzing what his return to the White House means for the Middle East and North Africa. 
Ahmed Morsy, Mouin Rabbani, Tarik M. Yousef, Nader S. Kabbani, Paul Dyer, Aisha Al-Sarihi, Galip Dalay, Ranj Alaaldin, Robert P. Beschel Jr., Justin Dargin , Faozi Al-Goidi, Alhala Alkuwari, Abdalftah Hamed Ali, Mahjoob Zweiri, Yahia H. Zoubir
After a number of Israeli soldiers were detained for raping a Palestinian in a detention camp for captive Gazans, the public outcry in Israel speaks volumes.
Mouin Rabbani
Could the latest Israeli assassination be the Middle East’s Sarajevo moment, kicking off a major war?
Mouin Rabbani
Thirty years after the PLO and Israel embarked on the Oslo peace process, Palestinians remain beholden to the broken structures it created. The only chance of moving forward is to renounce this terrible legacy of the past.
Mouin Rabbani
The current White House has done its best to put the Palestinians on the back burner. But by allowing Israel to continue to run roughshod, circumstances have worsened considerably, and repeated crises have pulled the U.S. back to attention. How will this failed-policy fare now with the most rightwing government in Israeli history?
Mouin Rabbani