Hagar Chemali

Last updated
Hagar Chemali
Born
Hagar Hajjar Chemali

(1981-09-04) September 4, 1981 (age 42)
NationalityAmerican
Education Barnard College (BS)
Columbia University (MS)
Occupations
  • Political satirist
  • Foreign policy analyst
  • Television personality
Years active2005 – Present
SpouseJulien Chemali (m. 2010)
Children3

Hagar Hajjar Chemali (born Hagar Hadi Hajjar; September 4, 1981) is an American political satirist, [1] writer, producer, television personality, and political commentator. [2] [3] [4] Chemali has held senior national security and public affairs positions under the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations. She comments and writes on national security and foreign policy. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Early life and education

Chemali was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Hadi and Mirella (née Joakim) Hajjar. [8] [9] Chemali's great grand-uncle was the first president of Lebanon, Bechara el-Khoury.

Chemali studied Political Science at Barnard College, earning her bachelor's degree in 2003. She attended Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where she concentrated on International Security Policy with a focus on the Middle East. She graduated from Columbia with her Master of International Affairs in 2004. [10] [11]

Career

U.S. Government

In 2003, Chemali held an internship position at the United Nations Department for Political Affairs.[ citation needed ] She was later hired by the United States government as a Legislative Fellow for the Office of Congressman Christopher Shays in Connecticut, where she stayed until 2006.[ citation needed ]

Chemali joined the United States Department of the Treasury in 2006 as a Special Advisor to then Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, Daniel Glaser. She became a Policy Advisor on the Middle East in 2007 where she remained until 2010. [ citation needed ]

Chemali held a number of policy-making and public affairs positions during Barack Obama's presidency. In 2010, she became the Director for Syria and Lebanon at the National Security Council (NSC), where she worked on U.S. foreign policy toward Syria and Lebanon, including during the first year and a half of the Syria crisis.[ citation needed ]

At the end of 2012, Chemali returned to the Treasury Department and became a Senior Policy Advisor on Asia with the Treasury Department's Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes. In 2014, she became the Spokesperson for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Treasury Department. From 2015 to 2016, Chemali was the Spokesperson and Director of Communications for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under President Obama. [12] [13] [14]

In media

After leaving the U.S. Government in 2016, Chemali has occasionally served as a political commentator, speaking mostly as a foreign policy analyst. [15]

Chemali founded Greenwich Media Strategies in 2016, a communications consulting firm. [16] In 2019, she became a Senior Nonresident Fellow with the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center. [17] [18] In 2020, she launched a weekly world news show on YouTube called Oh My World! [19]

Personal life

Hagar married private equity operating executive, Julien Chemali, in 2010. They have three children. [20] Chemali is on the board of directors for the Greenwich United Way and the Serve America Movement (SAM), [21] as well as her alma mater Greenwich Academy. [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States National Security Council</span> U.S. federal executive national security and intelligence forum

The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Crowley</span> American conservative pundit and television personality (born 1968)

Monica Elizabeth Crowley is the former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She has been a political commentator and lobbyist. She was a Fox News contributor, where she worked from 1996 to 2017. She is a former online opinion editor for The Washington Times and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Rice</span> American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official (born 1964)

Susan Elizabeth Rice is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official. As a member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 22nd Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council from 2021 to 2023, as the 27th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013, and as the 23rd U.S. National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Power</span> American academic, author and diplomat (born 1970)

Samantha Jane Power is an American journalist, diplomat, and government official who is currently serving as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. She previously served as the 28th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017. Power is a member of the Democratic Party.

Walid Phares is a Lebanese-American politician, scholar, and conservative pundit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Malley</span> American diplomat

Robert Malley is an American lawyer, political scientist and specialist in conflict resolution, who was the lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Morell</span> Deputy Director of the CIA

Michael Joseph Morell is an American former career intelligence analyst. He served as the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013 and twice as its acting director, first in 2011 and then from 2012 to 2013. He also serves as a professor at the George Mason University - Schar School of Policy and Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn Farkas</span> American intelligence analyst

Evelyn Nicolette Farkas is an American national security advisor, author, and foreign policy analyst. She is the current executive director of the McCain Institute, a nonprofit focused on democracy, human rights, and character-driven leadership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration</span> United States foreign policy from 2009 to 2017

The term Obama Doctrine is frequently used to describe the principles of US foreign policy under the Obama administration (2009–2017). He relied chiefly on his two highly experienced Secretaries of State—Hillary Clinton (2009–2013) and John Kerry (2013–2017)—and Vice President Joe Biden. Main themes include a reliance on negotiation and collaboration rather than confrontation or unilateralism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jen Psaki</span> American political advisor (born 1978)

Jennifer Rene Psaki is an American television political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations, she served the Biden administration as the 34th White House press secretary until May 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009); the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011); the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015); and the White House communications director (2015–2017). Psaki was a political contributor for CNN from 2017 to 2020. As of March 2023, she hosts the talk-show Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC.

International reactions to the Syrian civil war ranged from support for the government to calls for the government to dissolve. The Arab League, United Nations and Western governments in 2011 quickly condemned the Syrian government's response to the protests which later evolved into the Syrian civil war as overly heavy-handed and violent. Many Middle Eastern governments initially expressed support for the government and its "security measures", but as the death toll mounted, especially in Hama, they switched to a more balanced approach, criticizing violence from both government and protesters. Russia and China vetoed two attempts at United Nations Security Council sanctions against the Syrian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Wagner</span> American journalist (born 1977)

Alexandra Swe Wagner is an American journalist. She is the host of both Alex Wagner Tonight on MSNBC and Netflix's The Mole reboot, as well as the author of FutureFace: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging. She was a contributor for CBS News and is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Previously, she was the anchor of the daytime program Now with Alex Wagner (2011–2015) on MSNBC and the co-host of The Circus on Showtime. From November 2016 until March 2018, she was a TV co-anchor on CBS This Morning Saturday. She has also been a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine since April 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Rhodes (White House staffer)</span> American speechwriter (born 1977)

Benjamin J. Rhodes is an American writer, political commentator and former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting under President Barack Obama. With Jake Sullivan, he is the co-chair of National Security Action, a political NGO. He contributes to NBC News and MSNBC regularly as a political commentator. He is also a Crooked Media contributor, and co-host of the foreign policy podcast Pod Save the World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett McGurk</span> American diplomat (born 1973)

Brett H. McGurk is an American diplomat, attorney, and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. He currently serves as deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Maher</span> American media executive

Katherine Roberts Maher is an American businesswoman. She is the chief executive officer (CEO) and president of National Public Radio (NPR) since March 2024. Prior to NPR, she was the CEO of Web Summit and chair of the board of directors at the Signal Foundation. She transitioned to the role of non-executive chairperson at Web Summit in March 2024. She is a former chief executive officer and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amos Hochstein</span> Senior Advisor for Energy Security

Amos J. Hochstein is an American businessman, diplomat, and former lobbyist. Currently the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser for Energy and Investment under U.S. President Joe Biden, he has worked in the U.S. Congress, has testified before congressional panels and has served in the Barack Obama administration under Secretaries of State Clinton and Kerry. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in 2011 and as Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs in 2013. In 2015, President Barack Obama nominated Hochstein to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources but the Senate did not act on the nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karine Jean-Pierre</span> American political advisor and White House Press Secretary (born 1974)

Karine Jean-Pierre is an American political advisor who has served as the White House press secretary since May 13, 2022. She is the first black person and the first openly LGBT person to serve in the position. Previously, she served as the deputy press secretary to her predecessor Jen Psaki from 2021 to 2022 and as the chief of staff for U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the 2020 presidential campaign.

Project Cassandra was an effort led by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to undercut Hezbollah funding from illicit drug sources in South America. Launched in 2008, the project was investigating the terrorist organization's funding. The DEA, Eurojust, and Europol found that Hezbollah was increasingly involved with drug trafficking and organized crime as a method of funding its activities. The investigation was tracking how hundreds of millions of dollars were being laundered from North America through Europe and West Africa to Lebanon and into Hezbollah's coffers.

"Members of Hezbollah established business relationships with South American drug cartels responsible for supplying large quantities of cocaine to the European and United States drug markets. An intricate network of money couriers collect and transport millions of euros in drug proceeds from Europe to the Middle East. The currency is then paid in Colombia to drug traffickers using the Hawala disbursement system. A large portion of the drug proceeds is laundered through Lebanon [facilitated by the now-defunct Lebanese Canadian Bank and other Lebanese nationals], where it is then used for the benefit of Hezbollah to purchase weapons."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samantha Vinograd</span> American foreign policy commentator (born 1983)

Samantha Erin Vinograd is an American government official and foreign policy commentator who served as the Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism, Threat Prevention, and Law Enforcement Policy at the Department of Homeland Security from July 2021 to August 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Nesheiwat</span> American politician

Julia Nesheiwat is an American national security adviser who served as the 10th homeland security advisor in the Trump administration from 2020 to 2021. She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.

References

  1. The world according to Hagar Chemali at L’Orient le Jour; by Irene Mosalli; published October 9, 2020; retrieved October 16, 2021
  2. North Korea is sanctions-busting by exceeding oil import cap, U.S. tells UN in new report at CBS News; by Pamela Falk; published June 12, 2019; retrieved October 16, 2021
  3. Will Nikki Haley put the U.S. in Russia's corner? at Politico; by Nahal Toosi and Benjamin Oreskes; published November 23, 2016; retrieved October 16, 2021
  4. Trump and Congress battle over Middle East weapons sales at MSNBC; by Ali Velshi; published July 26, 2019; retrieved October 16, 2021
  5. Shaky cease-fire in place between Armenia & Azerbaijan at MSNBC; published October 10, 2020
  6. What is the President’s strategy when it comes to Iran? at MSNBC; published June 21, 2019; retrieved October 16, 2021
  7. Chemali: No Doubt Iran Behind Tanker Attacks at Bloomberg.com; published June 17, 2019; retrieved October 16, 2021
  8. Hagar Hajjar Chémali: from the White House to the US “Treasury” at L’Orient le Jour; by Irene Mosalli; published March 29, 2013; retrieved October 16, 2021
  9. Political Poise at Greenwich Magazine; published Tomothy Dumas; retrieved October 16, 2021
  10. Secure in Her Voice at Fairfield County Look; by Michele Graham; retrieved October 16, 2021
  11. Alums in Leadership: Politics + Policy at Greenwich Academy; published 2020; retrieved October 16, 2021
  12. Gay and Marked for Death at New York Times; by Frank Bruni; published August 21, 2015; retrieved October 16, 2021
  13. U.S., allies call for new UN meeting on North Korea human rights at Reuters; by Louis Charbonneau; published December 3, 2015; retrieved October 16, 2021
  14. U.N. council plans emergency meeting on reported North Korea nuclear test at Reuters; by Louis Charbonneau; published January 6, 2016; retrieved October 16, 2021
  15. Fighting continues on Syria-Turkey border despite ceasefire at MSNBC; published October 18, 2019; retrieved October 16, 2021
  16. KOCHS SPEND LESS on federal politics -- ENERGY SECRETARY Ernest Moniz headlines Playbook Breakfast on Wed. – BOEHNER is back – SCOOP on N.Y. Times international plans -- B’DAY: Michael O’Hanlon at Politico; by Mike Allen; published May 16, 2016; retrieved October 16, 2021
  17. ISIS in South Asia: options and ways to respond at Atlantic Council; by Aditya Ramachandran; published August 21, 2017; retrieved October 16, 2021
  18. Economic Sanctions Initiative GeoEconomics Center at Atlantic Council; retrieved October 16, 2021
  19. Coronavirus — the parallel pandemic at Politico; by Ryan Heath; published May 1, 2020; retrieved October 16, 2021
  20. Hagar Hajjar & Julien Chemali at Greenwich Magazine; published May 24, 2011; retrieved October 16, 2021
  21. WHO WE ARE at Join SAM; retrieved October 16, 2021
  22. Greenwich Academy Graduate Discusses Her Career In Politics at Daily Voice; by Eric Gendron; published January 1, 2014; retrieved October 16, 2021
  23. The European Magnitsky Law—A milestone with a lot of potential at Atlantic Council; published December 10, 2020; retrieved October 16, 2021