Turkish Heritage

Joel Rubin is a national security lobbyist and media commentator with nearly two decades of experience in international affairs. He is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs in the Obama Administration, where he directed the State Department’s work with the U.S. House of Representatives. Joel is also a foreign policy contributor to The Hill and Axios, as well as a frequent presence on international television outlets and domestic television networks such as MSNBC and FOX, providing commentary on a broad array on national security topics, such as the Middle East, Russia, Nuclear Weapons, and Congress.

After obtaining a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University, he joined the federal government as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Energy Department, where he worked on renewable energy and climate change prevention programs. He later served at the State Department, where he worked on Political-Military and Near Eastern affairs, winning numerous awards, including the State Department’s Superior Honor award.

 He then served as a senior aide in the U.S. Senate from 2006 – 2008, joining Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) as a Brookings Institution Legislative Fellow and later Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) as his National Security Advisor. In 2008, Joel won the “Congressional Staffer of the Year” award from the Military Officers Association of America.

From 2008 – 2014, Joel was a leading advocate on national security and foreign policy issues at Ploughshares Fund, where he led the political campaign to promote American diplomacy to resolve the Iran nuclear crisis, and at J Street, where he founded the organization’s political and government affairs programs to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Joel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Brandeis University and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management with a Minor in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.