Rasha Al Aqeedi is a research associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute focused on contemporary Middle East politics and security. Al Aqeedi has served as a fellow researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. Before relocating to the United States, she was on the editorial board at Al Mesbar Studies and Research Center in Dubai where she served as a researcher and security consultant. 

Al Aqeedi’s commentary and publications focus on armed groups, radicalization, Middle Eastern geopolitics, and contemporary Iraqi politics and society. Her work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Independent, The National, The New York Times, and The American Interest.