Raghida Dergham is Columnist and Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for the London-based Al Hayat, the leading independent Arabic daily, since 1989. She writes a regular weekly strategic column on International Political Affairs.

Ms. Dergham is also a Political Analyst for NBC, MSNBC and the Arab satellite LBC. She is a Contributing Editor for L A Times Syndicate Global Viewpoint and has contributed to: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune and Newsweek Magazine.

Ms. Dergham was featured in PBS Documentary "Caught in The Crossfire." She is quoted in several books in many languages.

As one of the few women political commentators, Ms. Dergham has been a frequent guest PBS's "Charlie Rose” and "The News Hour", CNN, FOX, "ABC, CBS, Canada's CBC, Al-Jazeera as well as a radio guest on NPR and the BBC.
A Lebanese-born American Citizen, Ms. Dergham is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations. She was co-chair of the Council's 1997 conference: "In the National Interest: Does diversity make a difference?”

She serves on the Board of the International Women's Media Foundation, and has served on the Advisory Council of Princeton University's Institute for Transregional Studies of the contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. She was also a member of the Women's Foreign Policy Group.

Ms. Dergham is in SUNY's Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Alumna and has received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 2003.

Dr. Dergham is a frequent participant in Policy conferences and is a regular participant in The World Economic Forum at Davos and WEF at the Dead Sea.

She addressed UN General Assembly on the World Press Freedom Day when President of The United Nations Correspondents Association for 1997 and was appointed to the Task Force on the Reorientation of Public Information by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. She moderated a roundtable of 8 Presidents and Prime Ministers for UNCTAD at Bangkok in 1991. Ms Dergham served as Chairman of the Dag Hammarskjold Fund Board in 2005.

She also served as a Juror on the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Novartis Prize for Excellence in International Journalism.

In addition to covering the crucial American-Soviet Summits in the 80s and the 27th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, Ms Dergham has done exclusive Interviews with over 20 Statesmen including: Jordan's King Abdallah and the late King Hussein; Pakistan’s President Parviz Musharref, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak; Palestinian Presidents Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat; Iraq’s Jalal Talabani, Yemen's President Abdallah Saleh; Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir; Russia's President Boris Yeltsin, and Lebanon’s PM Fouad Siniora.

Other Presidents and Prime Ministers include a variety of countries such as:, Turkey’s Ozal, Indonesia’s Soharto, France’s D’Estang, Argentina’s Minem, Cambodia’s Sihanouk, India’s Ghandi, Afghanistan’s Najibullah, Iran’s Bani Sadr, Sweden’s Palme, Japan’s Ohira, Philippines' Marcos.

She conducted exclusive interviews with over 50 Foreign Ministers.

Ms. Dergham has Interviewed US President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and her predecessor Colin Powell.

Besides breaking major news stories, such as the Oslo secret talks, she was the only Journalist to interview Ramzi Youssef, the alleged mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing.

Ms. Dergham is based at the United Nations. Her assignments have included:

The Madrid Middle East Peace Conference; Islamic Summits; Nonaligned Summits; The Casablanca Economic Summit; The Denver Summit of Eight and the Extraordinary Amman Summit. She has accompanied UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on his tours of the Middle East.

Ms. Dergham is a frequent lecturer at Universities, Think Tanks and Business Councils throughout the United States.

Member of the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, composed by 100 of the most respected and influential media figures worldwide.

Blog Entries by Raghida Dergham

Between the Arab Summit and the End of the Bush Era: Prospects for a Regional Conflict

1 Comments | Posted March 21, 2008 | 04:47 PM (EST)


Nine months stand between the presumed Arab summit in Damascus, scheduled for the end of March, and the end of George W. Bush's term in office, as American presidential elections come to an end next fall. Nine months, during which the Iranian-Syrian partnership will have the opportunity not only to...

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Lebanon is a Good Example of Removing the Impression of Suspicious Deals from the Bush Administration

Posted December 22, 2007 | 12:27 PM (EST)


The US Administration and European governments are stumbling as they seek the benefits of policies of isolation versus engagement with states and groups such as Iran, Syria and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The advocates of dialogue and understanding with anyone, no matter who, are battling with the opponents of dialogue...

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Who's Responsible for the International 'Retreat' in Support of Lebanon's Path of Independence?

Posted December 15, 2007 | 06:54 PM (EST)


US President George W Bush is politically and morally responsible toward a small country called Lebanon because he took the initiative to make statement after statement in which he pledged support for this country's path toward independence and democracy and its standing up to extremism and plans to turn it...

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The Limits of Iranian Anger Over Damascus' Participation in the Reconciliation of Annapolis

Posted December 1, 2007 | 03:28 PM (EST)


The meltdown by the Iranian leadership as it criticizes the Annapolis Conference, hosted by President George W Bush to launch the establishment of a Palestinian state, has a flavor that we are unaccustomed to seeing from Tehran, which is known for its political acumen and avoiding hysteria. Perhaps this reaction...

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The Conference to Release Palestine from International Isolation

Posted November 24, 2007 | 08:00 PM (EST)


One shouldn't compare the Annapolis Conference with any comprehensive peace conference, such as Madrid, or Palestinian-Israeli negotiation sessions, such as Camp David. The Annapolis Conference will be the first international gathering for the sake of establishing a Palestinian state on the basis of international resolutions and reference points, including the...

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A Failure for Musharraf... A Failure for the United States

Posted November 10, 2007 | 03:47 PM (EST)


The Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, has -- if he wants -- the option of taking the initiative to save Pakistan from chaos and unrest and save his personal reputation and legacy from the stain of his recent adventures at the expense of the democratic process. He is a smart...

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The Confrontation with Iran in the Calculations of Presidential Candidates

Posted November 6, 2007 | 09:38 PM (EST)


Iran has begun to take the place of Iraq as a leading topic of interest in the early stage of the US presidential election campaign. Attention is shifting from the actual war that the US is waging in Iraq to scenarios for war with Iran, most of which involve military...

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The Damascus Conference Versus the Conference of the Fall Grandstanding at the Expense of the Palestinians

Posted October 30, 2007 | 06:46 PM (EST)


The secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, presented an important report to the Security Council this week. The report returns to the forefront the issue of disarming Hizbullah as a cornerstone to enabling the Lebanese state to recover full sovereignty over its territory. Ban Ki-moon called for...

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Putin Won't Toss Away His Relationship with the US to Satisfy Iran and Syria

Posted October 21, 2007 | 09:09 PM (EST)


Among the most important items offered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during this week's Caspian Sea Summit in Tehran was a rescue of the latter from encirclement, a rehabilitation of this strategic friend, and the sending of a picture of the two of them together...

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The Truth of "Distinguishing" Between Damascus and Tehran Regarding the Presidential Elections in Lebanon

Posted October 13, 2007 | 08:36 PM (EST)


Conditions in Iraq require, at this historical juncture, a bilateral relationship with the US that takes the place of the Chapter 7 relationship between Iraq and the United Nations. Conditions in Lebanon require the international community to share in the consequences that will result if Lebanon slips into a political...

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Interview with Nouri al-Malaki: "...I Saved Iraq From a Sectarian War"

Posted October 5, 2007 | 02:54 PM (EST)


Iraqi prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki asserted that national conciliation is his good choice to resolve political and security conflicts. In an interview with Al-Hayat in New York where he was attending the UN General Assembly session, he stated that militias are an alien phenomenon that he will fight along with...

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The Need for Bravery and Frankness Before the Peace Option

Posted October 5, 2007 | 01:37 PM (EST)


Of course, the Syrian government has the right to make the recovery of the Golan Heights a priority, whether through peaceful negotiations with Israel or liberating the area through armed resistance. Certainly, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is right when he said, "I'm the president of Syria and not the president...

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El Baradei's Mistakes on the Iran Issue

Posted September 23, 2007 | 04:39 PM (EST)


Intentionally or unintentionally, the position by the International Atomic Energy Agency on the Iranian nuclear issue met the two chief objectives of the Islamic Republic. These are: buying time while Tehran continues to enrich uranium and block the UN Security Council on additional sanctions on the country, by moving the...

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Israeli Strike Aimed to Break the Syrian-Iranian Alliance

Posted September 19, 2007 | 06:45 PM (EST)



The media blackout imposed by Israel - about its violation of Syrian airspace last week in an attack whose objectives, messages and consequences remain obscure - has been suspicious. It's clear that Israel violated Syrian sovereignty. The strange part is the timid Syrian response to what the government...

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Regional and International Conditions and Messages to Damascus

Posted September 8, 2007 | 03:41 PM (EST)


The victory by the Lebanese Army over Fatah al-Islam is a victory for the state over the militias and states-within-a-state. The Lebanese Army crushed these "red lines," which the secretary-general of Hizbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, had set down when he stood, in practical terms, against the legitimate army, to prevent...

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The Coming Change in Iraq

Posted August 25, 2007 | 07:47 PM (EST)


A change must come in Iraq, after the US commander there, David Petraeus, and the US Ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, submit a key report next month on evaluating the results of the US force surge this year, and on the political and security conditions inside Iraq. This change will...

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Al-Qaida is Partners with the De Facto Power in the Wars of Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine

Posted July 27, 2007 | 04:29 PM (EST)


High-level American military sources with deep knowledge of the Gulf, the Middle East and North Africa expect that Lebanon will be the leading and most important destination for the flight of al-Qaida volunteers and their like. This will not be in the wake of an American withdrawal from Iraq,...

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