Omar Rifai earned his BA from Harvard University, an MA from Georgetown University and a PhD from American University. He currently serves as Director of Arab Affairs in the United Nations office in Amman, Jordan.  Previously he was the executive director of the Amman-based West-Asia North-Africa Forum, president of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy (on two occasions), director-general of the Jordan Media Institute and  secretary-general of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.

A career diplomat, Dr. Rifai joined the Jordanian Diplomatic Service in 1975 and served in Jordan’s missions in Cairo, Bern, New York, London and Washington between 1976 and 1994.  Between 1994 and 1996, he held the position of Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Director of the Special Bureau at the Foreign Ministry in Amman. He was also a member of the Jordanian delegation to the Jordan-Israel peace talks in 1994.