As a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State, Laith Suwaidan, a 2016 graduate, must choose his own adventure. While his destinations change, his goal remains the same: to ensure that American foreign policy reflects the diversity of the people it serves.
Swaidan, an Arab American Muslim who experienced the consequences of US foreign policy in the Middle East during his formative years while visiting his family in Jordan, is determined to squash negative misconceptions directed against Arab Americans and common stereotypes about the Middle East in formulating foreign policy.
“I am working to improve the lives of Arabs and Muslims alike, while at the same time rebuilding trust and restoring our credibility in the Middle East,” he says.
Based in Washington, D.C., Suwaidan works on bilateral relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia and building support for US policy priorities throughout the Gulf.
Prior to joining the Saudi Arabia Office, Suwaidan served in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, starting five days before October 7, 2023. Since then, he has had a front-row seat to decision-making as it moves forward. American efforts to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas. He also supported and accompanied the Assistant Secretary of State in the Middle East to discuss post-conflict plans in Gaza with Arab foreign ministers.
Laith Suwaidan, 2016 graduate, third from left, takes notes at a meeting between Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara A. Lev and Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi in Riyadh.
In this role, Suwaidan finds his intersectional identities deeply intertwined with his work empowering marginalized communities. He says: “I see myself putting one foot in the United States and the other in the Middle East and being a bridge between the two.”
Given his Arab-American identity and fluency in Arabic, Sweidan majored in international relations and Middle Eastern studies at Pomona University.
He learned about U.S. foreign policy from Mietic P. Podoszynski, associate professor of politics, and interned in Washington, D.C., for four consecutive summers. He also studied abroad in Jordan and London throughout his junior year, immersing himself in the starkly different cultures of these two countries.
While in London, Suwaidan was named a Thomas Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow. The fellowship, funded by the State Department to diversify the Foreign Service and highlight the faces of America to foreign audiences, required him to complete graduate studies and commit to at least five years to work at the State Department.
“It was a scary commitment when I was 20,” Soueidan says. “But in my heart, I knew this was what I always wanted to do. A liberal arts education at Pomona prepared me to deal with the complex range of policy areas covered in the Foreign Service, strengthening me with the academic preparation to apply critical thinking and intercultural understanding.”
Laith Suwaidan, 2016 graduate, seated second from right, and other 2015 Pickering Fellows pose for a photo with Secretary of State John Kerry.
Suwaidan received his graduate degree from Columbia University in 2018, and subsequently completed two-year assignments in both Kuwait and Denmark.
In Kuwait, he gave others the same opportunities that an American consular officer gave his parents 40 years ago when they immigrated to the United States from Jordan. In Denmark, Soueidan was frequently asked how the United States promotes human rights globally while not practicing what it advocates domestically — a question he says he has constantly wrestled with as a human rights official.
“When there is a disconnect between the way we practice our values domestically and the way we promote our values abroad, it hampers our diplomatic efforts,” he says, adding that despite this gap, he “regularly acknowledged the flaws of American democracy and shared lessons.” We learned from home while ensuring that the U.S.-Denmark partnership was grounded not only in interests, but also in values.
While the State Department attempts to reflect the full American experience, Suwaidan aspires to open the door to others and is proud to show the world America's diversity.
“This job is an opportunity to dispel misconceptions and show what it means to be an American,” he says. “There is no one way to look or speak, and as a child of immigrants, I can represent a historically underrepresented segment of America to the world.”
In addition to his day job, Suwaidan is involved in the State Department's Arab American Staff Organization in Foreign Affairs Agencies, where he works to promote Arab culture through education and events among staff to strengthen U.S.-Middle East relations.
In June, Sweidan received the Arab American Foundation's 30 Under 30 Award — a celebration of outstanding young Arab Americans across the country in a myriad of professional fields. Last month, the Middle East Policy Council awarded him a 40 Under 40 Award in recognition of his contributions to US-Middle East relations.
“I learned that there is no perfect nation,” Suwaidan says. “They are all working to learn from each other and work toward a more perfect world. I do what I can with what I have and use my position of power to push things for the better.
