Adham Z. Sahloul

Adham Z. Sahloul is an adjunct senior fellow with the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. He is a former U.S. national security official and served as a special advisor in the Biden-Harris Administration from 2022-2025 at the Department of Defense and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). As a member of USAID Administrator Samantha Power's Office of Policy, he focused on China and strategic competition. As a special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Sahloul advised senior-level department officials on policy, personnel, and operational matters. He also served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on Secretary Austin’s Middle East Crisis Cell.

Sahloul is an officer in the United States Navy Reserve. He is also a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has held positions at Accenture Federal Services and the Atlantic Council. His writing has been published in Foreign Affairs, War On the Rocks, Lawfare, The Diplomat, Inkstick, Axios, and the Chicago Sun-Times. He received his MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and is a heritage Arabic speaker.