Allison Minor

Allison Minor is a senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Allison has more than 15 years of experience working across the national security and economic development fields, with a focus on the Middle East. During a decade-long career in government, Allison helped negotiate peace agreements and champion creative approaches using economic tools to promote peace and stability in the Middle East and beyond. Allison served as deputy special envoy for Yemen, director for Arabian Peninsula affairs at the National Security Council, managing director at the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, and in multiple senior roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Before joining CSIS, Allison worked at both the Atlantic Council and the Brookings Institution, where she produced action-oriented research on complex policy challenges. She has testified before Congress, and her work has been published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other leading publications. At CSIS, Allison’s work examines 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. Allison holds an MA in both public policy and Middle Eastern studies from the University of Texas at Austin.