Sarah Leah Whitson
Executive Director, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) (website)
twitter: @sarahleah1
email: swhitson [at] dawnmena [dot] org
Executive Director, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) (website)
twitter: @sarahleah1
email: swhitson [at] dawnmena [dot] org
Middle East | arms sales | Harm to civilians - casualties, human rights, development
Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Previously, she served as executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division from 2004 – 2020, overseeing the work of the division in 19 countries, with staff located in 10 countries. She has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal reform, migrant workers, and human rights. She has published widely on human rights and foreign policy in the Middle East in international and regional media, including The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, and CNN. She appears regularly on Al-Jazeera, BBC, NPR, and CNN.
Whitson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is on the boards of the Artistic Freedom Initiative, Freedom Forward, and ALQST for Human Rights. She speaks Armenian and Arabic.
Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). Previously, she served as executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division from 2004 – 2020, overseeing the work of the division in 19 countries, with staff located in 10 countries. She has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal reform, migrant workers, and human rights. She has published widely on human rights and foreign policy in the Middle East in international and regional media, including The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, and CNN. She appears regularly on Al-Jazeera, BBC, NPR, and CNN.
Whitson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is on the boards of the Artistic Freedom Initiative, Freedom Forward, and ALQST for Human Rights. She speaks Armenian and Arabic.
Recent Publications:
- "Five years after Khashoggi's murder, MBS is laughing," Responsible Statecraft, October 2, 2023.
- "The Greatly Exaggerated US Pivot and America’s Failures on Human Rights" in "A US Pivot Away from the Middle East: Fact or Fiction?," Arab Center Washington DC, September 13, 2023.
- "Jordan's King Abdullah Joins Other Arab Autocrats in Targeting Dissidents Abroad," Democracy in Exile, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), July 19, 2023.
- "Saudi Arabia’s bid for control of the PGA isn’t just about golf," Responsible Statecraft, July 11, 2023.
- "Breaking Away From Secret Concessions in the Middle East," The American Prospect, March 28, 2023.
- "America’s Middle East ‘Withdrawal’ Breathes Its Last Breath," The American Prospect, June 24, 2022.
- "How Ukraine Is Clarifying the Costs of America's Middle East Alliances," Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), March 17, 2022.*
- "Remember the Clarion Call of Egypt's Revolution," DAWN, January 26, 2022.
- "The Biden administration could have ended the brutal war in Yemen. It’s now making it worse." Washington Post, January 26, 2022.*
- "The Human Rights vs. National Security Dilemma Is a Fallacy," Foreign Policy, January 10, 2022.
- "Congress Must Halt Biden's Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia," Foreign Policy, December 6, 2021.
- "Biden's Middle East Policy is just sugar-coated business as usual," Responsible Statecraft, September 22, 2021.*
- "A Hard Look at America's Embrace of Jordan's King," Democracy in Exile, DAWN, July 21, 2021.
- "Opinion: New Khashoggi revelations show we don’t have the full story about his killing. The Biden administration must disclose what it knows," The Washington Post, July 6, 2021.
- "Opinion: New Khashoggi revelations show we don’t have the full story about his killing. The Biden administration must disclose what it knows," Washington Post, July 6, 2021.
- "The Israel-Palestine Narrative Has Evolved," The American Prospect, May 18, 2021.
- "Testimony to Lantos Human Rights Commission", U.S. Congress, U.S. Policy in the Middle East Ten Years after the Arab Uprisings, April 29, 2021.
- "Mr. President, recognize the Armenian genocide," Boston Globe, April 23, 2021.
- “Now is the Time to End our 30-Year War in Iraq,” American Prospect, April 15, 2021.
- “MBS is Failing the People of Saudi Arabia; It’s Time for Him to Go,” DAWN, February 16, 2021.
- “Biden Must Block Trump’s Arms Sale to the UAE,” The Nation, December 9, 2020
* indicates additional authors