Sumaya Malas

Sumaya Malas is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Previously, she was a 2019 Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow where she advocated for reframing U.S. national security priorities to reduce military spending, increase diplomacy, and promote peaceful solutions. Her work also focused on conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction efforts in the Middle East. She graduated with high honors from Michigan State University with degrees in International Relations, Comparative Cultures and Politics, Arabic and a minor in Muslim Studies. Sumaya has conducted research on U.S. foreign policy and armed conflict in the Middle East, authoritarian states, international development, and global governance. She has worked at the United Nations Population Fund in New York City on policy compliance and humanitarian programming, as well as researching and publishing on delivering reproductive health products and services in fragile humanitarian contexts. Sumaya also served as a field translator in Al-Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan while also conducting research projects which explored the trauma of displacement and the health and social service disparities received by refugees. She has traveled to Sri Lanka, Syria, Lebanon, and Jerusalem in order to understand conflict-resolution and peace-building efforts. Her research and advocacy focus on fragile states and analyzing conditions that precede conflict to pursue strategies of good governance. She hopes to continue her work on researching and promoting de-militarized and peaceful foreign policy as well as advocating for more diversity and inclusion in the national security field.