Oula A. Alrifai

Oula Alnashar Alrifai (Arabic: علا الرفاعي; born September 12, 1986) is a Syrian emigrant to the United States and writer for various Washington-based think tanks.[1]

Political activities

Oula is a co-founder and executive director of SANAD Syria.[2][3] She was featured with her family in The Washington Post[4] newspaper on an account of their activism and support for rebels in the Syrian civil war. Alrifai is Ammar Abdulhamid's step-daughter. Alrifai, with her parents (Ammar Abdulhamid and Khawla Yusuf) and her brother Mouhanad, sought political asylum in Washington, D.C., in 2005.[5] She was a senior fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy.[6][7] Alrifai has written for prestigious American magazines including Foreign Affairs,[8] The Washington Post,[9] CNN,[10] The National Interest,[11] The Hill,[12] and CTC Sentinel.[13] Her research and policy analysis focus on Syria and the Middle East.[7] Oula became a U.S. citizen in 2016.[14] In 2018, she released her documentary, Tomorrow's Children.[15][16][17]

Education

In December 2011 Alrifai received her B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park in Government and Politics and Middle East studies, where she was awarded the full-tuition Academic Excellence Scholarship until her graduation.[1][18] Alrifai is a member of the National Political Science Honor Society (Pi Sigma Alpha) and a member of the International Honor Society (Phi Theta Kappa). Alrifai holds a Master of Arts in Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University.[19] Her thesis, The Self-Flagellation of a Nation: Assad, Iran, and Regime Survival in Syria, focuses on the development of the Iranian-Syrian relationship in the 1970s and 1980s through the lens of religio-political dynamics. It is now available at Harvard Library.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b "From Syria to the United States, MC Alumna Earns Full Scholarship to Maryland". Inside MC Online. Montgomery College. 10 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Our Team". Sanad. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ^ Frenette, Liza (17 July 2020). "Teen symposium draws participants from across the globe". New York State United Teachers. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  4. ^ Bahrampour, Tara (8 January 2012). "Syrian Americans anxiously monitor uprising". The Washington Post. pp. B.1. ISSN 0190-8286. ProQuest 914586051. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  5. ^ Abdulhamid, Ammar (24 July 2012). "The day I met Syria's Mr Big: One of the most feared men in Syria before his assassination, Assef Shawkat told me minority rights were a CIA invention". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  6. ^ Reznick, Alisa (24 November 2014). "Syrian American Dissidents Scramble to Save Their Country". The Seattle Globalist. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Experts: Oula Abdulhamid Alrifai". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  8. ^ Alrifai, Oula Abdulhamid (3 December 2014). "Not Alright With Syria's Alawites: Growing Resentment Splinters Assad's Power Base". Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  9. ^ Alrifai, Oula A. (29 December 2019). "Assad is growing stronger under Trump's nonexistent Syria policy". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  10. ^ Alrifai, Oula A. (14 March 2020). "How the US can help ease Idlib's catastrophe". CNN. ProQuest 2376989683. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  11. ^ Zelin, Aaron Y.; Alrifai, Oula Abdulhamid (21 March 2015). "Assad Plays America the Fool… Again". The National Interest. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  12. ^ Levitt, Matthew; Alrifai, Oula Abdulhamid; Segawa, Kelsey (15 October 2014). "Hamas is going through a rough patch, so what is it singing about?". The Hill. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  13. ^ Zelin, Aaron Y.; Alrifai, Oula A. (November–December 2015). "The Islamic State in Southern Syria" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 8 (11). Combating Terrorism Center: 23–29. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  14. ^ A Decade After Leaving Syria, Oula Touches Her Home Keys Again (Video). International Organization for Migration USA. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2017 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Baglione, John Michael (18 October 2017). "The not lost generation". The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  16. ^ "Tomorrow's Children". Amazon Prime Video. 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  17. ^ Tomorrow's Children - Trailer - فيلم أولاد بُكرا (Video). SANAD Syria. 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 24 April 2021 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "About Oula". We broke the fear in Syria. 14 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  19. ^ "Congratulations, CMES Graduates 2018-19!". Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. 20 June 2019. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2017. Oula Alrifai—Thesis: The Self-Flagellation of a Nation: Assad, Iran, and Regime Survival in Syria | Advisor: Nicholas Boylston
  20. ^ Alrifai, Oula A. (April 2019). "Catalog Record: The self-flagellation of a nation: Assad, Iran, and regime survival in Syria by". HOLLIS - Harvard Library. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
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