Sarhang Hamasaeed is the director of Middle East Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC. He joined USIP in February 2011 and served in different positions before becoming director in 2016. His areas of focus include political and conflict analysis, dialogue processes, reconciliation and post-conflict stabilization, ethnic and religious minorities, and organizational development.   

Hamasaeed is a regular lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute on the subjects of ISIS and challenges to governance in Iraq and is featured in events and briefings on Iraq, Syria, Yemen and the Middle East. He provides analysis and gives interviews to international media. He was a member on the Task Force on the Future of Iraq and the Rebuilding Societies Working Group, both initiatives by the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. 

Hamasaeed has more than 15 years of strategy, management, and monitoring and evaluation experience in governmental, nongovernmental, private sector, and media organizations. His prior positions include deputy director general at the Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (2008-2009), where he managed strategic government modernization initiatives through information technology with the goal of helping improve governance and service delivery; program manager for the Research Triangle Institute International (2003-2004), where he managed civic engagement and local democratic governance programs in Iraq; planning and relations manager at Kurdistan Save the Children (1997-2002); and correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and other international media organizations.  

He holds a master’s degree in international development policy from Duke University (2007) and is a Fulbright alumnus. 

Publications By Sarhang

The United States Weighs Its Options in the Face of Iran’s Provocations

The United States Weighs Its Options in the Face of Iran’s Provocations

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

By: Sarhang Hamasaeed;  Mona Yacoubian

Three U.S. troops were killed and at least 34 injured in a drone strike on a U.S. base in northeast Jordan on January 28. The attack comes against a backdrop of rising regional tensions since the outbreak of conflict in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

Type: AnalysisQuestion and Answer

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGlobal PolicyViolent Extremism

A Slippery Slope? U.S., U.K. Launch Strikes on Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen

A Slippery Slope? U.S., U.K. Launch Strikes on Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen

Friday, January 12, 2024

By: Sarhang Hamasaeed

On January 12, the United States and the United Kingdom, supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, launched military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the group’s attacks on civilian and military ships in the Red Sea. The U.S.-led strikes are a significant escalation and part of the growing regional impact of the Israel-Hamas war, which the United States has been actively trying to prevent from turning into a regional war.

Type: AnalysisQuestion and Answer

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGlobal Policy

RISE Action Guide: Addressing the Collective Trauma of Violent Extremism

RISE Action Guide: Addressing the Collective Trauma of Violent Extremism

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

By: Chris Bosley;  Heidi Ellis;  Sarhang Hamasaeed;  Brandon Kohrt

The territorial defeat of ISIS gave way to another challenge, one that is common with violent extremist groups around the world: How to handle the tens of thousands who lived under — and engaged with — the Islamic State. With just under 50,000 people from over 60 countries still consigned to displacement camps and detention centers in the region, the lack of a long-term solution offers ISIS a possible recruiting source to reconstitute their ranks. USIP’s Rehabilitation and (Re)integration through Individual, Social, and Structural Engagement (RISE) Action Guide offers an approach to develop viable exit ramps for those who have engaged in violent extremism to return to society — as well as support for the communities affected by it.

Type: Blog

Violent Extremism

Climate Adaption Key to Iraq’s Stability and Economic Development

Climate Adaption Key to Iraq’s Stability and Economic Development

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

By: Sarhang Hamasaeed;  Mac Skelton;  Zmkan Ali Saleem

Iraq is projected to be among the five countries hardest hit by the impact of climate change. The country is already witnessing depreciating water supply and accelerating desertification, leading to the loss of as much as 60,000 acres of arable land each year, according to Iraqi government and United Nations sources. These climate phenomena threaten the livelihoods and food security of Iraq’s population of an estimated 43 million, creating conditions for displacement, instability and a deterioration of social cohesion. The water crisis has grown steadily amid severe drought, upstream damming practices in Turkey and Iran, and increased domestic consumption within Iraq’s borders.

Type: Analysis

EnvironmentGlobal Policy

Iraq’s al-Sudani Government, One Year Later

Iraq’s al-Sudani Government, One Year Later

Thursday, November 2, 2023

By: Sarhang Hamasaeed

Last week marked one year since Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani assumed office. His ascension to the role came after a year of deep political tensions, several alarming but contained episodes of violence, and no annual government budget. A political agreement among the Shia coalition known as the Coordination Framework and major Kurdish and Sunni Arab parties set the stage for the al-Sudani government to form — meanwhile, the biggest winner in the 2021 parliamentary elections, cleric and political leader Moqtada al-Sadr, decided to withdraw from the political process altogether.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance

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