Alex Rizzo-Banks
Intern, AGSI
Alex Rizzo-Banks is an intern at the Arab Gulf States Institute. He has a master’s in Middle Eastern studies from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. His research interests include Gulf Arab soft power politics, diplomacy and mediation, and U.S. foreign policy. In 2025, he co-authored and presented the capstone “Bringing Adversaries to the Table: The Mediation Strategies of Qatar and Oman,” a culmination of Washington expert interviews and research on the ground in both Gulf states.
Previously, Rizzo-Banks was a visiting student scholar working with the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Middle East and North Africa Center until its closure in March 2025. Prior to that, he worked as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate Middle East course and as a program director for a martial arts school. Rizzo-Banks earned his bachelor’s in economics, with a minor in Arabic, from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Analysis
A New Mediator: Can Pakistan Help the U.S. and Iran Cut a Deal?
After Oman-facilitated negotiations between the United States and Iran ended in a major regional conflict, Pakistan has picked up the mantle of mediator and helped broker a cease-fire, but can the country succeed at mediating a lasting peace deal?
