Mona Yacoubian

Director and Senior Adviser, Middle East Program
Mona Yacoubian

Mona Yacoubian is director and senior adviser of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She has more than thirty years of experience working on the Middle East and North Africa, with a focus on conflict analysis, governance and stabilization challenges, and conflict prevention. She was previously vice president of the Middle East and North Africa Center at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), where she managed field programming in Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia as well as Washington, D.C.–based staff. In 2019, she served as executive director of the congressionally appointed Syria Study Group. From 2014 to 2017, Yacoubian served as deputy assistant administrator in the Middle East Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she had responsibility for programming across Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. Prior to joining USAID, Yacoubian was a senior adviser at the Stimson Center and a special adviser on the Middle East at USIP. From 1990 to 1998, Yacoubian served as the North Africa analyst in the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Her opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and various other outlets, and she has testified to Congress six times. Yacoubian was a Fulbright scholar in Syria, where she studied Arabic at the University of Damascus from 1985 to 1986. She has held an international affairs fellowship with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and is a CFR member. She earned a master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s in public policy from Duke University.

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State of Play

What are CSIS experts' boldest geopolitical predictions in 2026?

12 CSIS experts join Will to share significant developments in different parts of the world in 2025, and predictions for 2026.

Podcast Episode by Will Todman, Ryan C. Berg, Max Bergmann, Victor Cha, Thomas J. Christensen, Charles Edel, Kristi Govella, Henrietta Levin, Bonny Lin, Oge Onubogu, Gregory B. Poling, Richard M. Rossow, and Mona Yacoubian — January 15, 2026

Photo: iLab/CSIS

CRINK in 10 Charts

China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (CRINK) are increasingly cooperating to challenge the United States and global governance. These 10 charts showcase how China and Russia anchor CRINK cooperation and how the war in Ukraine has accelerated CRINK alignment. 

Commentary by Brian Hart, Bonny Lin, Maria Snegovaya, and Mona Yacoubian — November 24, 2025

State of Play

Did the Saudi & Syrian Trump visits meet expectations?

Mona Yacoubian and former ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney join Will to discuss how successful the visits really were, what failed to materialize, and what surprises emerged. 

Podcast Episode by Will Todman and Mona Yacoubian — November 21, 2025

Photo: iLab/CSIS

Unpacking the CRINK Axis

Join the CSIS Korea Chair for a discussion unpacking the growing ties among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, which some have called a CRINK axis or an "Axis of Upheaval." 

Event — October 28, 2025