[LIVE] FDD Morning Brief w Hagar Chemali
Scheduled to live stream at 8:30 am ET
About Hagar Chemali
Hagar Chemali is an American political satirist, writer, producer, television personality, and political commentator born on September 4, 1981, as Hagar Hadi Hajjar.
She has held senior national security and public affairs positions in the U.S. government for 12 years under both the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations.
Chemali is also a foreign policy expert and hosts and creates Oh My World!, an award-winning weekly world news show on YouTube.
She is also the co-host of The Threat podcast and a co-founder of the Lebanon-Israel Peace Alliance.
Her signature, “HHH,” comes from her maiden name, Hagar Hadi Hajjar.
She is based in Connecticut, is a wife and mother of three, and is actively involved in her community.
Chemali’s parents left Lebanon in 1981 during the civil war, and she was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, when her mother experienced pregnancy complications while visiting friends.
Chemali’s professional background includes serving as Director of Communications and Spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations from 2015-2016.
Before this, she was the Spokesperson for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she managed public affairs related to sanctions policy, illicit finance, and enforcement actions.
From 2010 to 2012, Chemali was the Director for Syria and Lebanon at the National Security Council at the White House, advising on and coordinating U.S. policy towards these countries.
She also worked as a Senior Policy Advisor for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.
Chemali founded Greenwich Media Strategies in 2016, a communications consulting firm, and became a Senior Nonresident Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center in 2019.
She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of directors for the Greenwich United Way, the Serve America Movement (SAM), and her alma mater Greenwich Academy.
She holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, concentrating in International Security Policy and the Middle East, and a BA in Political Science from Barnard College.
About FDD
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan 501(c)(3) research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. FDD does not accept donations from any foreign governments.
FDD conducts in-depth research, produces accurate and timely analyses, identifies illicit activities, and provides policy options — all with the aim of strengthening U.S. national security and reducing or eliminating threats posed by adversaries and enemies of the United States and other free nations.
Founded shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, FDD conducts actionable research prepared by experts and scholars from a variety of backgrounds — including government, intelligence, military, private sector, academia, and journalism. It brings proficiency in foreign languages, law, finance, technology, and other skills to its work.
FDD regularly provides open-source research and analyses to policymakers and the media. Since its founding, FDD has shared its expertise with the Bush, Obama, Biden, and Trump administrations and congressional offices on a bipartisan basis.
In addition to its in-house experts, FDD collaborates with and seeks counsel from a range of distinguished advisors. FDD houses three Centers on American Power: the Center on Military and Political Power, the Center on Economic and Financial Power, and the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.