Dr. Atallah is a Deputy Director at the National Security Council Secretariat at the Government of Canada’s Privy Council Office. He has served as a senior Middle East Analyst for over two decades with a specialization on the Levant and the Persian Gulf. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and an MA from the University of London King’s College in the Department of War Studies. Atallah also worked on the Middle East Peace Process at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Atallah was also at the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) facilitating sustainable human development in Arab countries. Atallah has extensively travelled and lived in the Middle East, and frequently lectures on the history and politics of the Middle East at universities and at public venues.