Intissar Fakir

Intissar Fakir is senior fellow and the founding director of the North Africa and Sahel Program at the Middle East Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank. Her work focuses on the geopolitics of North Africa and the Sahel. She has tackled issues at the intersection of political, social, and economic trends on the national and regional levels. Her writing and analysis spans policy audiences, media, and academia. She has also advised several governments, policy makers, and business leaders in North Africa, the EU, and US on issues from domestic politics, economic and social policies, energy, regional stability, and a range of other issues that affect state-citizens relations. She is a member of various advisory groups and is currently serving as a member of the supervisory board of the Council for Mediterranean diplomacy (Diplomeds.) She is a member of the board of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (IG-TOC) and a member of the scientific council of the El Cano Royal Institute.   

Prior to joining MEI, Intissar was a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she was also the editor-in-chief of the bilanguage (English and Arabic) Middle East platform Sada. She has also implemented programs at various NGOs in support of political, economic, and social reform in the North Africa and the Middle East. She has consulted and advised governments and corporate entities in the US and Europe on Maghreb developments. 

She is the author of numerous reports, articles, and book chapters on the region and has been published in foreign policy journals and newspapers in English and Arabic. Intissar is fluent in English, Arabic, and French. Originally from Morocco, she holds an M.A. from the Elliott School at George Washington University.