Ferial Ara Saeed is an expert on U.S. foreign policy, national security, trade, and technology. She is the founder of Telegraph Strategies LLC, a consultancy providing high-level advisory services. A former senior American diplomat with extensive experience across Asia and the Middle East, Ms. Saeed advised White House and Cabinet officials on these critical regions throughout her career and received numerous awards for her contributions to U.S. policy.
At the National Security Council, she worked with White House officials to prepare the president for summits in China, Japan, and Korea. At the State Department, she was instrumental in developing the Six-Party Talks on North Korea’s nuclear program and led successful negotiations to safeguard U.S. observer teams at its Yongbyon nuclear facility. She played a key role in resolving problems related to the U.S. military presence in Japan and Korea, and she was instrumental to achieving landmark U.S. trade agreements with China and Japan. Ms. Saeed analyzed major developments and trends in the Middle East for the Secretary of State’s brief, focusing on Saudi Arabia and Iran. As Chair of the Syria Chemical Weapons Implementation Group, she worked with Russian and UN officials on a high-profile demilitarization effort. She was also seconded as an observer to monitor implementation of the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, and later to Chevron Corporation during Operation Desert Storm, where she focused on Saudi oil policy.
A key area of Ms. Saeed’s expertise is technology. As Deputy U.S. Coordinator for Information and Communications Technology Policy at the State Department, she led the promotion of pro-competitive policy and regulatory frameworks worldwide.
Ms. Saeed is a skilled political communicator. She produced Haiti’s first televised presidential debates, praised by the UN for driving high voter turnout during a crisis, as well as a talk show and a documentary on political polarization that sparked national debate.
Her work has been published by major think tanks and prominent outlets, and she has been quoted by U.S. and international media on U.S. policy in Asia and the Middle East. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley, and an M.A. in International Affairs from SIPA at Columbia University.
