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, who served in the Obama and Clinton administrations, says the drone strike on US forces in Jordan indicates a heightening of tensions in the Middle East.
Mara Rudman BBC Newsnight
The UN’s relief agency for Palestinians has fired several employees that Israel alleges were involved in the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. The UN's secretary-general is "horrified" by the news and has ordered an investigation.
Mara Rudman CBS News
Is the US push for a two-state solution doomed to fail?
Mara Rudman ABC News
Mara Rudman, former senior national security official, says “I say truce because it is hard to imagine Israel not continuing in one way or another to find routes to go after the top leaders of Hamas.”
Mara Rudman CNBC
Mara Rudman discusses the air strike on the Syrian capital that killed five senior members of Iran's security forces.
Mara Rudman BBC News
CSIS Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy Dr. Eliot A. Cohen and Mara Rudman, former Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs for the Obama and Clinton administrations, discuss what questions might remain for Israel and the region after a defeat of Hamas and implications of a wider regional conflict.
Mara Rudman Center for Strategic & International Studies