Firas Maksad

From the Fikra Forum profile:
 * Firas Maksad is a consultant on Middle East affairs at the law firm DLA Piper and also the executive director at the Lebanon Renaissance Foundation (LRF), an international organization supporting democracy, sovereignty and reform in Lebanon. Prior to his current position, Firas was a Middle East analyst at Eurasia Group, a leading political risk consultancy. He also worked as a research associate to former U.S. Middle East Presidential envoy, Ambassador Dennis Ross; and for the House International Relations Committee on Capitol Hill. Firas's writings have appeared in several publications including the Los Angles Times, Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, National Interest, Toronto Globe and Mail, Forward, Lebanon's Daily Star and NOW Lebanon. He has also been a regular contributor to international news networks including CNN, BBC, MSNBC, C-SPAN, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and others. Firas holds a Masters of Science in Foreign Service degree and an honors certificate in International Business from Georgetown University. He completed his undergraduate degree in Political Science with distinction at the American University of Beirut and is fluent in English and Arabic, with competency in French.