Allison Minor Joins CSIS Middle East Program as Senior Fellow

WASHINGTON, DC — October 13, 2026 — The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) today announced that Allison Minor has joined the CSIS Middle East Program as a senior fellow. A leading national security and foreign policy expert, Minor brings to CSIS more than 15 years of experience across the government and non-profit sectors in conflict prevention, Gulf affairs, regional integration, and economic development across the Middle East.

“Allison bolsters our roster of world-class Middle East experts at CSIS,” said Dr. Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department. “She brings deep government experience working on the region across several presidential administrations. Her experience driving U.S. policy at the highest levels will ensure that CSIS continues to lead in shaping forward-looking, pragmatic, and bipartisan policy research and recommendations on the Middle East at a time of great turmoil in the region.”

Minor joins CSIS from the Atlantic Council, where she served as director for Middle East Integration. She was previously deputy special envoy for Yemen and served as director for Arabian Peninsula affairs at the National Security Council. In these roles, Minor helped negotiate peace agreements, navigate periods of extreme instability, and deepen U.S. partnerships across the Gulf. Minor also served as managing director at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and in multiple senior roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development. A recognized expert on Yemen and Gulf affairs, Minor has testified before Congress and has been published widely in the media, including in Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy.

“We are thrilled to have Allison join our team. She brings widely respected thought leadership to understanding the complex dynamics in the Middle East, shaped by her broad experience across the U.S. government,” said Mona Yacoubian, director and senior adviser of the Middle East Program. “Her insights and analysis on Yemen and the Houthi threat could not be more timely or relevant to our work.”

At CSIS, Minor will work closely with Yacoubian on research and policy engagement on the forces reshaping the Middle East, with a particular focus on Yemen and the Gulf, conflict prevention and mediation, and the relationship between security and economic opportunity. Her recent work has examined the evolution of Gulf partnerships, emerging regional corridors, and the implications of the Iran war for the region.

“I am excited to join the CSIS team,” said Minor. “I have deep respect for the cross-disciplinary, impact-oriented work CSIS is doing and look forward to contributing to the Middle East Program’s efforts to understand the emerging Middle East order during a period of transformation.”

The CSIS Middle East Program provides research and analysis on the political, economic, and security dynamics shaping the Middle East and U.S. policy toward the region. The program seeks to develop practical approaches to the region’s most consequential challenges. To learn more and read recent analysis from the CSIS Middle East Program, visit here.

For media inquiries, contact [email protected].