Sarah Smierciak holds a PhD in Middle East studies and a master’s in international development from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She is a non-resident research fellow at Harvard University’s Middle East initiative. 

Smierciak's research sits at the intersection of international development and political economy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with a focus on poverty, inequality and corruption. She authored Cronyism and Elite Capture in Egypt: From Businessmen Cabinet to Military Inc. (Routledge 2021) and co-edited the Routledge Handbook on Contemporary Egypt (2021). Her monograph focuses on business-state relations in Egypt in the two decades leading up to the January 2011 uprising and its aftermath. 

As an analyst, Smierciak has written dozens of reports and policy briefs for international consulting firms on political and economic developments in the region. While at Oxford, she taught undergraduate courses on history and politics in the MENA. She has conducted research throughout Egypt and in Istanbul, Turkey, as a Fulbright scholar. She holds a BA in history and Middle East Studies from Northwestern University, where she graduated summa cum laude.