Fellow
Sarah Zaaimi is a resident senior fellow for North Africa at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East programs. She is also the center’s deputy director for communications, where she oversees strategic communications, media relations, and social and digital marketing efforts.
Zaaimi is an award-winning journalist, communications strategist, and international development professional with over two decades of extensive experience in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in countries like Morocco, Egypt, and Iraq. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, she managed projects and engagement efforts for organizations like the European Union’s Anna Lindh Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the International Organization for Migration.
She also worked in several US, UK, and MENA newsrooms as a reporter, producer, and news editor, including various pan-Arab media outlets like BBC Arabic, Asharq Al Aswat, the US Agency for Global Media’s Alhurra, and Al Araby. Zaaimi has an MSc in communications and international development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), an MA in communication management from l’Ecole Polytechnique of Paris, and a BA in journalism and media. She is also a United Nations Alliance of Civilization MENA fellow and an honorary research fellow at the University of Exeter. Her research and writings focus on North African politics, transnational identity, Arab cultural studies, diaspora, and community stabilization.
