Nur Arafeh

Head of the Political Economy Program and Senior Fellow, Arab Center Washington DC

Nur Arafeh is Head of the Political Economy Program and Senior Fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC. A political economist working on the Middle East and North Africa, her research examines economic transformation and diversification, post-conflict reconstruction and donor politics, business-state relations, and the political economy of Palestine.

Previously, Nur was a Fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where she co-led the center’s political economy program and multi-year research initiatives, and engaged policymakers and civil society actors across the MENA region. She has also advised the World Bank, UNDP, GIZ, and other international organizations on reconstruction and recovery, economic development, and institutional reform in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

She holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, and dual bachelor’s degrees from Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University.