Maisoon H. Kafafy

Maisoon H. Kafafy is a Research Associate at the Middle East Initiative, housed under the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Dedicated to impacting global public policy, Maisoon’s research focuses on security and conflict resolution with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Her most recent work at the Kennedy School delves into proactive security strategies for the prevention of conflict spillover across the MENA region, with a special emphasis on Egypt’s evolving security landscape.

Maisoon is also a Fellow at The Cohen Group, where she advises clients across the defense, technology, aerospace, and telecommunications sectors on navigating geopolitical complexities to enable their strategic decision making. She supports multinational clients in developing engagement strategies, navigating government policies and building relationships with key stakeholders across the Middle East, North Africa, and the United States. She is also a member of the group’s Middle East and Defense practices.

Previously, Maisoon worked in the international cooperation and development ecosystem in Egypt in different capacities. Her functions included working with the World bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to drive development cooperation. Maisoon was part of and led teams that negotiated and secured development-related loans, grants, and technical assistance to the country.

Maisoon holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she concentrated in International Global Affairs and was awarded the Harvard University Public Service Fellowship for the full duration of her tenure. Egyptian born and raised, she earned her dual Bachelor of Arts in Economic and Political Science from the American University in Cairo, with concentrations in Economic Policy Analysis and International Affairs respectively.