Imad K. Harb is a leading keynote speaker on Middle East geopolitics and US foreign policy, valued for calm, evidence-led analysis and clear explanations under pressure. As Director of Research and Analysis at Arab Center Washington DC, Imad helps audiences make sense of fast-moving regional events and their global impact. His standout achievement is building influence across research, policy, and public commentary as a trusted voice on Arab-American relations.
Imad’s early career was shaped by academic depth and practical teaching experience. He completed a PhD in political science at the University of Utah, developing a specialist focus on political systems, security, and decision-making across the Middle East and North Africa. He then moved into higher education, teaching political science and international relations at the University of Utah and San Francisco State University, and later serving as Adjunct Professor of Middle East Studies at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University. These formative roles refined Imad’s ability to translate complex political realities into frameworks that leaders can use.
Over time, Imad built a career that spans research leadership, policy work, and widely read analysis. He has served as Senior Analyst at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, bringing regional insight into strategic forecasting, and as Senior Program Officer at the United States Institute of Peace, contributing to policy-relevant programmes focused on stability and conflict. Imad is also the Founder and Director of Quest for Middle East Analysis, a research and consulting firm that reflects his commitment to practical, decision-ready insight. His publishing record underlines his authority, including co-author of Domestic and Regional Challenges to US-Iran Relations (2015) and co-editor of The Arab World Beyond Conflict (2019), alongside an extensive body of commentary, viewpoints, and policy analysis on regional politics, civil-military relations, and US policy.
Clients hire Imad because he gives audiences clarity, context, and realistic scenarios, without drama or jargon. His keynote topics include civil-military relations, regional politics, Gulf security, Lebanon and Levantine affairs, Arab-American relations, democratisation, and US policy across the Middle East, North Africa, and the Arabian Gulf. These themes matter because they shape energy markets, investment risk, diplomacy, organisational security, and long-term strategy. For example, Imad can brief a leadership team on how shifts in Gulf security could influence operational risk, supply lines, and public positioning, then leave them with practical takeaways and a sharper view of what to track next. Book Imad for an intelligent, measured keynote that strengthens judgement when the stakes are high.
Imad K. Harb’s official speaker topics are listed below:
- Arab-American Relations and Strategic Communications
- Civil-Military Relations and Governance in The Arab World
- Democratisation, Political Reform, and State Resilience
- Gulf Security and Arabian Peninsula Affairs
- Iran–US Relations and Regional Spillover Risks
- Lebanon and Levantine Politics
- Middle East Geopolitics and Regional Power Shifts
- US Foreign Policy in the Middle East and North Africa
- 2026 - Published ‘Every Moment Is a Life - Gaza in the Time of Genocide’
- 2026 - Published ‘Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland Is Nibbling at the Margins of Arab Security’
- 2026 - Published ‘The Legacies of the Middle East in 2025 Are Likely to Repeat in 2026’
- 2025 - Published ‘The Unmitigated Danger of Lebanon’s Current Moment’
- 2025 - Published ‘Tabatabai’s Killing - Perspectives on Hezbollah’
- 2025 - Published ‘Egyptian Democracy Is What Sisi Makes of It’
- 2025 - Published ‘The Willing Fools’ Peace of the Middle East’
- 2025 - Published ‘Recognizing a Palestinian State as Gaza Still Burns’
- 2025 - Published ‘The GREAT Trust for Gaza - A Blueprint for Dispossession - Not Reconstruction’
- 2025 - Published ‘Perspectives on the US Attack on Iran and Its Repercussions’
- 2025 - Published ‘The Prickly Issue of Disarming Palestinian Factions in Lebanon’
- 2025 - Published ‘President Trump’s Gulf Trip - Post-Visit Observations’
- 2025 - Published ‘President Trump Does Business in Saudi Arabia’
- 2025 - Published ‘Legacies of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 Civil War’
- 2025 - Published ‘Is Sudan Approaching a Resolution of Its Two-Year Crisis?’
- 2025 - Published ‘An Arab Plan for Gaza - Obstacles and Possibilities’
- 2025 - Published ‘Trump’s Favorite Dictator Feels the Heat’
- 2025 - Published ‘The Emergence of Lebanon’s Third Republic’
- 2025 - Published ‘How Will 2025 Be Different in the Middle East? Perspectives on the New Year’
- 2025 - Media appearance - Interviewed by the Media Line regarding the situation in Southern Lebanon
- 2025 - Event - ‘Towards Inclusive and Democratic Governance in MENA - Challenges and Prospects’ webinar
- 2024 - Published ‘Israel’s Violations of the Ceasefire with Hezbollah Threaten to Undo It’
- 2024 - Published ‘Implications of Assad’s Fall for Syria and the Region’
- 2024 - Published ‘Commentary - Why Trump Won’
- 2024 - Published ‘Important Conclusions from Israel’s Wars on Palestine and Lebanon’
- 2024 - Published ‘One Year After October 7 - Assessments and Implications’
- 2024 - Published ‘The War Israel Wants but Hezbollah Rejects’
- 2024 - Published ‘The Failure of Political Sectarianism in Lebanon’
- 2024 - Published ‘Israel Has Opted for War on All Fronts’
- 2024 - Published ‘Lebanon Needs Help in Dealing with Its Syrian Refugees’
- 2024 - Published ‘Raisi Departs - But Iran Remains Khamenei’s Realm’
- 2024 - Published ‘One Year On - The Calamities of the Sudan Conflict’
- 2024 - Published ‘A Failed Iranian Performance and Its Repercussions’
- 2024 - Published ‘Six Months of Carnage in Gaza’
- 2024 - Published ‘Path of Least Cost - Assuaging Public Protests in Jordan’
- 2024 - Published ‘Whither the Arab World from What is Happening in Gaza?’
- 2024 - Published ‘The Dangerous Chipping Away of Somalia’s Sovereignty’
- 2024 - Published ‘Continuing Skirmishes but No Hezbollah-Israel War’
- 2024 - Published ‘Normalization Survives Despite the Gaza War’
- 2024 - Published ‘Important Considerations for the Middle East in 2024’
- 2024 - Published ‘Arouri’s Assassination Will Achieve Nothing’
- 2023 - Published ‘Egypt Muddles Through the Crisis in Gaza’
- 2023 - Published ‘Hezbollah Reluctantly Awaits Israel’s Decision on War’
- 2023 - Published ‘Nasrallah Steers Clear of War’
- 2023 - Published ‘The Unlikelihood of a Hezbollah-Israel War’
- 2023 - Published ‘The Hamas Attack on Israel - Context - Analysis - and Potential Repercussions’
- 2023 - Published ‘Chaos in the US House of Representatives’
- 2023 - Published ‘Saudi-Israel normalisation remains a distant dream for Biden’
- 2023 - Published ‘A US Pivot Away from the Middle East - Fact or Fiction?’
- 2023 - Published ‘Challenges Facing Kuwait’s Parliamentary Democracy’
- 2023 - Published ‘In Sudan - Where Is the International Community’s Responsibility to Protect?’
- 2023 - Published ‘Egypt Is in Serious Trouble Seven Decades after Its Free Officers Revolution’
- 2023 - Published ‘Americans Opt for a Democratic Israel - Not a Jewish State’
- 2023 - Published ‘Morocco’s Concerning Domestic and Foreign Policies’
- 2023 - Published ‘The Jeddah Arab League Summit - MBS’s Final Crowning’
- 2023 - Published ‘Sudan’s Transitional Process Is Dead and Buried’
- 2023 - Published ‘Iraq 20 Years since the 2003 US Invasion’
- 2023 - Published ‘Lebanon and Syria and the Saudi-Iran Detente’
- 2023 - Published ‘Walking a Tightrope - Oman and Normalization with Israel’
- 2023 - Published ‘Aid to Syrian and Turkish Earthquake Victims Must Arrive Unobstructed’
- 2023 - Published ‘Somalia Continues to Face Crises on Several Fronts in 2023’
- 2023 - Published ‘The Biden Administration and the Middle East in 2023’
- 2019 - Co-editor of ‘The Arab World Beyond Conflict’
- 2015 - Co-author of ‘Domestic and Regional Challenges to US-Iran Relations’
How to hire Imad K. Harb
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Imad K. Harb for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
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