Omar H. Rahman

Fellow

Bio

Omar H. Rahman is a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, where he focuses on Palestine, Middle East geopolitics, and American foreign policy in the region. He is the Editor of Afkār, the Council’s online publication providing insights and analysis on current events in the region.

Rahman was previously a non-resident fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, where he researched and wrote about Palestine-Israel, the Arab Gulf, and the intersection between the two. Prior to this, Rahman was a research analyst at the Arab Gulf States Institute, where he focused on the political economy of the Gulf states.

Rahman established his career as a journalist based in the U.S. and the Middle East, including three years in Palestine where he was a columnist for +972 Magazine. Rahman was also an associate editor at World Politics Review in New York, as well as an editor and senior Middle East correspondent at Argus Media. His writing has been published in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The National Interest, Lawfare, VICE, PBS NewsHour, Quartz, Al-Jazeera English, and The National, among other outlets.

Rahman’s other work includes peer-reviewed policy papers. academic articles, and book chapters including in the recently-published volume: What is Israel/Palestine? (Routledge, 2022). He is currently working on a book about Palestinian de-fragmentation in the post-Oslo era. Rahman is also a frequent speaker on panels, at conferences, and in the media.

Research Areas

  • Israel-Palestine
  • GCC foreign policy
  • Middle East geopolitics
  • US foreign policy in MENA

Countries of Focus

  • Palestine
  • Israel
  • GCC
  • Egypt

Other Areas of Interest

  • Regional energy
  • Eastern Mediterranean

Education

  • M.A., Political Journalism, Columbia University, 2013
  • B.A., Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia, 2006

Articles

Seven experts take the pulse of public opinion in the Middle East and North Africa, from evolving views of external and regional powers to political priorities to the impacts of social media. 
Omar H. Rahman, Michael Robbins, Hamidreza Azizi, Marc Owen Jones, Yasmina Abouzzohour, Dalia Ghanem, Ahmed Morsy
Rudderless, disorganized and unable to effectively respond to the greatest crisis since 1948, Palestinians desperately need to restore a unified national leadership.
Omar H. Rahman
Reflections from MENA thinkers on the past year of the war on Gaza and its regional aftershocks.
Omar H. Rahman, Nadim Houry, Joseph Bahout, Hamidreza Azizi, Tarik M. Yousef, Abdulaziz Sager, Dania Thafer, Mohammad Abu Rumman, Hasan Jaber
Ten months into the war on Gaza, Yemen’s Houthis continue to demonstrate their growing military capabilities and readiness to exchange fire with Israel and the United States.
Faozi Al-Goidi, Omar H. Rahman
Washington’s policy towards Israel’s war on Gaza has been a central issue on the presidential campaign trail and is not going anywhere.
Omar H. Rahman
ME Council experts assess the impact of Israel’s war on Gaza, 300 days in, and the recent assassinations of senior leaders of Hamas and Hizballah.
Hamidreza Azizi, Beverley Milton Edwards, Omar H. Rahman, Tarik M. Yousef, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Mohammad Abu Hawash, Jin Liangxiang
While conditions on the ground remain dire, the court ruling offers Palestinians a useful tool for mobilizing international pressure against Israel—perhaps the only path forward.
Omar H. Rahman
Middle East Council experts analyze the implications of the exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel for the ongoing war on Gaza.
Galip Dalay, Omar H. Rahman, Ranj Alaaldin, Özge Genç, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Shahram Akbarzadeh, Hamidreza Azizi
A major conflagration in the Middle East has loomed large since October 7, and each day that Israel’s onslaught of Gaza continues with U.S. backing, it becomes more likely.
Omar H. Rahman
Going after the region’s most essential diplomat is a mistake the Middle East—and the United States—can ill-afford.  
Omar H. Rahman, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is entering its fourth month with no end in sight. Council experts explore various dimensions of the fallout.
Adel Abdel Ghafar, Galip Dalay, Omar H. Rahman, Beverley Milton Edwards, Tarik M. Yousef, Abdalftah Hamed Ali, Alhala Alkuwari, Ranj Alaaldin, Sahar Khamis
While Israeli leaders incite against the entire population of Gaza, there is also a two-pronged logic driving a genocide in the besieged territory.
Omar H. Rahman
Middle East Council experts offer their thoughts on the unfolding crisis in Palestine-Israel that began on October 7.
Ali Bin Musa, Shahram Akbarzadeh, Sahar Khamis, Nader S. Kabbani, Beverley Milton Edwards, Hamidreza Azizi, Omar H. Rahman, Galip Dalay, Noha Aboueldahab, Saoud El Mawla, Faozi Al-Goidi
An unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas fighters has shocked the world. As the event continues to unfold, it is likely to have far-reaching consequences that no-one will escape.
Omar H. Rahman
Like many people in the region, Palestinians have been impacted by the past decade of regional rivalry and competition. So how does the recent restoration of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran affect them?
Omar H. Rahman
Twenty years have passed since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, leaving the country and the wider region forever changed. In this Council Views, Middle East Council experts reflect on this seminal moment in the region’s modern history and what has ensued in the two decades since. 
Galip Dalay, Omar H. Rahman, Ranj Alaaldin, Faozi Al-Goidi, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Robert P. Beschel Jr., Tarik M. Yousef, Larbi Sadiki
Israel’s new far-right government has already taken several measures to pressure the PA that do not differ much from the past. But the way it views the PA is different and could spell its end.
Omar H. Rahman
ME Council's experts survey the region’s socio-political and economic landscape and offer their outlooks for the year ahead.
Ranj Alaaldin, Nader S. Kabbani, Nejla Ben Mimoune, Galip Dalay, Faozi Al-Goidi, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Omar H. Rahman
With the Islamic Republic engulfed in crisis, Middle East Council experts weigh in on the protests rocking the country, issues of accountability, and what they mean for the wider region.
Omar H. Rahman, Tarik M. Yousef, Ranj Alaaldin, Noha Aboueldahab, Galip Dalay
The elections held in the United States on November 8 were billed as the most crucial midterms in a generation. In a country deeply divided along ideological and party lines, the implications of such polls go well beyond domestic affairs. Polarization at home is seeping into Washington’s policy abroad, meaning that even congressional polls, once… Continue reading For Nations Abroad, U.S. Midterm Elections Are of Increasing Importance
Omar H. Rahman