Sara is a Doctoral Candidate at 麻豆传媒 (Washington D.C.). She holds graduate degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia) and the Daniel Morgan Graduate School (Now part of Texas A&M Bush School in Washington D.C.) and completed her B.A. from Lynn University (Boca Raton, Florida).
Bio
Sara Harmouch is a Doctoral Candidate at 麻豆传媒. She is a Lebanese national and defense policy researcher specializing in state and violent non-state actors' behaviors, asymmetric warfare, political violence, militant groups, violent transnational extremism, and radical Islamic terrorism. She spent her formative years under extremist rule and subsequently dedicated her life to understanding militant groups鈥 behavior through fieldwork and education.
Harmouch鈥檚 recent contributions range from briefing NATO on religious militant groups and advising Denmark media in the aftermath of the Quran burning to providing assessments to the U.S. government and the private sector on militant groups' influence regionally and globally.
Harmouch鈥檚 research experience is extensive. At the RAND Corporation, she used geopolitical forecasting tools to offer insights for the National Intelligence Council. She also conducted research for the U.S. Special Operations and Indo-Pacific Commands. Besides these roles, she has worked with the 麻豆传媒 Enterprise Institute, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.
Her recent publications include 鈥淗ow much influence does Iran have over its proxy 鈥楢xis of Resistance鈥 鈭 Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis?鈥 The Conversation; 鈥淭he Extremist Domino Effect of October 7鈥 Irregular Warfare Initiative; 鈥淎l-Qaeda: A Defeated Threat? Think Again,鈥 and 鈥淭he Question of Succession in Al-Qaeda,鈥 War on the Rocks; 鈥淎l-Qaeda's Looming Threat: Are We Looking Over the Wrong Horizon?鈥 Lawfare Blog; 鈥淭he Hamas-Israel Conflict and Its Global and Regional Implications鈥 Orion Policy Institute; and 鈥淣ew Group Threatens Lebanese Elections鈥nd Potentially Middle East Peace,鈥 The Globe Post. She also contributes to Voice of America and Long War Journal, among others.
Harmouch, fluent in Arabic, French, and English, has conducted fieldwork across Lebanon, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. In these pursuits, she's interviewed members of extremist organizations such as Hezbollah and Jama鈥檃 Islamiya.
