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United States Institute of Peace

Osama Gharizi

Senior Advisor, Iraq, Gulf and Yemen

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Osama Gharizi is a senior advisor for Iraq, the Gulf and Yemen at USIP.

His work focuses on local peace and dialogue processes that address localized drivers of conflict in Iraq, including tribal and community tensions, as well as issues surrounding the return and reintegration of families from al-Hol camp in Syria. He also spearheads the design and implementation of USIP’s Conflict and Stabilization Monitoring Framework for Iraq.

Gharizi previously served as USIP’s regional program manager for the Middle East, where he designed and directed the implementation of research, conflict mitigation and reconciliation initiatives in Iraq and Syria, among other responsibilities.

Prior to joining USIP, Gharizi worked for the International Republican Institute (IRI) in various capacities, including directing survey research programs in Lebanon and leading a long-term election observation in Georgia.

He holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, with a concentration in economic and political development.

Publications By Osama

Osama Gharizi on ISIS’s Lingering Presence in the Middle East and Beyond

Osama Gharizi on ISIS’s Lingering Presence in the Middle East and Beyond

Monday, October 7, 2024

By: Osama Gharizi

The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS recently recommitted itself to fighting the remnants of the Islamic State “not just as a group and an entity,” says USIP’s Osama Gharizi, “but also dealing with the factors that gave rise [to it]” and the legacies it left behind — like the process of repatriating those who lived under its rule.

Type: Podcast

Hassan Nasrallah is dead. What happens next in the Middle East?

Hassan Nasrallah is dead. What happens next in the Middle East?

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

By: Osama Gharizi;  Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen;  Garrett Nada;  Mona Yacoubian

Two weeks ago, Israel announced that halting Hezbollah attacks had become an official goal of its post-October 7 war effort. Since then, Israel conducted a sophisticated clandestine attack on Hezbollah’s communications infrastructure and struck numerous Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut, killing many of Hezbollah’s senior leaders. Then, on Friday, an Israeli airstrike assassinated Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who led the group for over 30 years.

Type: Question and Answer

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

10 Years After ISIS’s Genocide, Iraq Is Still Dealing with the Human Legacies

10 Years After ISIS’s Genocide, Iraq Is Still Dealing with the Human Legacies

Monday, July 8, 2024

By: Sarhang Hamasaeed;  Osama Gharizi

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of ISIS’ capture of a third of Iraqi and Syrian territory and genocide against the Ezidis (Yazidis) and other communities. Supported by the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, Iraq declared military victory over the terrorist group in December 2017 and has significantly reduced and controlled the threat ever since. Significant progress has also been made in the recovery and stabilization process, with the successful return to their areas of origin of some five million of the six million Iraqis internally displaced by the conflict and the rebuilding of many of the regions that the conflict devastated.

Type: Analysis

Reconciliation;  Violent Extremism

Iraq’s Provincial Council Elections: The Way Forward in Nineveh Province

Iraq’s Provincial Council Elections: The Way Forward in Nineveh Province

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

By: Osama Gharizi;  Yomnna Helmi

On December 18, Iraqis will elect members of the provincial councils, the highest oversight bodies of subnational government and key providers of public services. The elections are the first at the provincial level in over a decade and come in the wake of the 2019 anti-government protests that resulted in the dissolution of the provincial councils following demands from the protesters who accused them of corruption. Recent findings from the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Conflict and Stabilization Monitoring Framework in Nineveh Province reveal that candidates are facing a distrustful electorate that is lacking confidence in state institutions.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance

Lebanon’s Vote and the Prospect of Long-awaited Political Reform

Lebanon’s Vote and the Prospect of Long-awaited Political Reform

Thursday, May 19, 2022

By: Osama Gharizi

On May 15, Lebanon held its first election since mass protests swept the country in October 2019. Trigged by economic crisis and profound frustration with an inept, detached ruling establishment, the protest movement sparked hope that real change to the country’s anachronistic, corrupt political system was in the offing. Fast forward nearly three years, and such promise seems to have been extinguished by the calamitous August 2020 Beirut port explosion, traditional party supporters’ efforts to stifle new opposition movements, and an historic economic collapse.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance

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