Dana Shuqom holds a PhD in Political Science from McMaster University, Canada. Her PhD dissertation, titled “States, Stories and Sightseeing: Tourism Policy and Narrative Control in Foreign Policy”, explored how Saudi Arabia uses its new tourism policy as a tool of public diplomacy to engage with foreign publics and to alter the state’s image in the West. Dana holds certificates in Tourism and Destination Management and Marketing from the George Washington University. She has worked in the Middle East in the tourism, communications and sustainable development sectors in senior management roles. As the Jordan Country Director of one the longest operating American NGOs in the MENA region, she has overseen the implementation of numerous US public diplomacy initiatives.