Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Khairi Abaza is a scholar at FDD, noted for his focus on democratic reform in the Arab world, the spread of terrorism, and the influence of the media on politics. His columns appeared in various publications such as International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, Newsweek, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Weekly Standard. He is also a commentator on several American and international television stations such as Fox, BBC, France 24,  Al-Jazeera and CBC.

Mr. Abaza is an active participant in FDD's campus programs, and is invited to speak at universities across the United States to discuss issues related to the Middle East.

Khairi Abaza is a scholar at FDD, noted for his focus on democratic reform in the Arab world, the spread of terrorism, and the influence of the media on politics. His columns appeared in various publications such as International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, Newsweek, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, and The Weekly Standard. He is also a commentator on several American and international television stations such as Fox, BBC, France 24,  Al-Jazeera and CBC.

Mr. Abaza is an active participant in FDD's campus programs, and is invited to speak at universities across the United States to discuss issues related to the Middle East.

He is also co-founder of the Center for Liberty in the Middle East (CLIME), an organization dedicated to teaching civic activism in the Middle East. Through CLIME, Mr. Abaza was involved in training women activists in the region and empowering women who ran for office. He aslo served on the board of the Alliance of Egyptian-Americans and the American-Moroccan Institute.

Before joining FDD, Mr. Abaza was a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, focusing on Egyptian politics and democratic reform. While at the Washington Institute he published a series of policy papers covering elections and other developments in Egypt.

Previously before coming to Washington, Mr. Abaza worked for ten years in Egyptian politics. He served as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and secretary of the Cultural Committee of the Egyptian Wafd Party.

Khairi Abaza holds a master's degree in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of London. He has lived in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He speaks Arabic (Egyptian and Moroccan dialects), English, and French.