Hagar Hajjar Chemali is an American political satirist, news personality, writer, commentator, and foreign policy expert.
Hagar is the host and creator of Oh My World! – an award-winning weekly world news show on YouTube that covers the top world news stories in a fun, easy, and satirical way in 10 minutes, curated for a younger audience. She writes and commentates on foreign policy and national security, and she and her work have been featured in The Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, and Cheddar. She is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Her professional background and foreign policy expertise have been shaped by senior public affairs and policy-making positions she held over the course of 12 years in the U.S. Government.
She was Spokesperson and Director of Communications for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under President Obama and Ambassador Samantha Power, where she directed all communications and public diplomacy. Prior to this position, she was Spokesperson for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
From 2010-2012, Hagar was Director for Syria and Lebanon at the White House, National Security Council, where she advised on and coordinated the implementation of U.S. policy toward Syria and Lebanon. Hagar also worked at the Treasury Department as a Senior Policy Advisor on Asia and Middle East Policy Advisor in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes.
Hagar is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She has a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs where she concentrated on International Security Policy and the Middle East. She also graduated from Columbia University’s Barnard College where she majored in Political Science. She speaks English, French, Arabic, and Italian.