Experts

Mara Rudman

Fast Facts

  • Served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, including as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs
  • Director, Ripples of Hope Project
  • Former deputy envoy and chief of staff for the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, U.S. Department of State
  • Expertise in foreign affairs, diplomacy, national security, the Middle East

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • War and Terrorism
  • Middle East
  • Governance
  • The Presidency

Mara Rudman is the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center, where she directs the Ripples of Hope Project aimed at identifying practical approaches to help democratic leaders resolve key challenges. 

She serves on the 2022 National Defense Strategy Commission and the Howard University College of Arts and Sciences board of visitors. Rudman also consults for Democracy Forward. 

Rudman’s government positions have included serving as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs in the Obama and Clinton administrations; deputy envoy for the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace at the U.S. Department of State; assistant administrator for the Middle East at the U.S. Agency for International Development; and chief counsel to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  

Previously, Rudman was executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress and senior vice president for policy/projects at Business Executives for National Security. She also led Quorum Strategies, a geopolitical strategic advisory firm. Rudman has been a guest on numerous TV and radio shows and has written for and been quoted in various print publications. She received her BA from Dartmouth College and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Mara Rudman News Feed

Mara Rudman speaks about the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.
Mara Rudman BBC NewsNight
Relations between Nicaragua and Russia have intensified in recent years, causing concern in the United States. But why now? What implications could this connection have for Washington? We see it, together, in Panorama.
Mara Rudman PANORAMA
For Israel, the deal had many downsides, but the risk was necessary, said Mara Rudman, a Middle East expert in the Clinton and Obama administrations who is now at the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington.
Mara Rudman LA Times
As Gaza humanitarian crisis deepens, a close Biden ally says Israel risks losing support.
Mara Rudman BBC: The World Tonight
In this live webinar discussion convened by UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, experts in history, political science, economics, law, and diplomacy from across the University of Virginia join veteran government practitioners to discuss the array of world crises now challenging American policymakers.
Aynne Kokas, Eric Edelman, Harry Harding, John Owen, Mara Rudman, Phil Potter, Spencer Bakich, Stephen Mull, Syaru Shirley Lin, William Antholis Miller Center Presents
“That close public embrace gives you the ability to whisper the more challenging aspects of your advice quietly, and also gives the other side a greater capacity to hear what you’re saying,” said Mara Rudman, a former White House adviser on the Middle East who is now a senior counselor at the Center for American Progress think-tank.
Mara Rudman Bloomberg