Jesse Marks is the senior advocate for the Middle East at Refugees International. He is a policy practitioner and humanitarian researcher with extensive experience in humanitarian response, foreign policy, and multilateral perspectives on aid. He has spent over five years in the United States, Middle East, Europe, and Asia, researching, advocating, and reporting on humanitarian crises, particularly on improving access to victims of conflict in hard-to-reach areas and working with multiple stakeholders to prevent refugee refoulement.
Most recently, Jesse served as a non-resident fellow at the Stimson Center’s China Program, where he researched China’s mediation and response to humanitarian crises in the Middle East. Before that, he was a Middle East policy advisor and inaugural McCain Fellow in the U.S. Government, focusing on the Levant region, including Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Previously, he was a Fulbright Fellow at the Jordan Center for Strategic Studies, where he offered advice to U.S. and foreign embassies in Jordan on managing complex humanitarian responses to Middle East conflicts. He was also a Scoville Fellow at the Stimson Center’s Protecting Civilians in Conflict Program, where he worked with U.S. policymakers on developing effective measures to protect internally displaced Syrians. Additionally, he worked for the Executive Office of UNHCR Jordan, where he collaborated with senior UN officials to expand humanitarian access in Syria and prevent forced return.
Jesse has published widely, including in Foreign Affairs and the Washington Post, and with a variety of think tanks such as the Stimson Center, Middle East Institute, and New Lines Institute. He holds an MPhil in International Relations and Politics from the University of Cambridge, with a focus on the political dynamics of humanitarianism in the Syrian War; a master’s degree in Global Affairs with a focus on China studies from Tsinghua University in Beijing; and a bachelor’s degree in Middle East Studies and Arabic from Florida State University.
The consent-based model with the Syrian regime is insufficient for getting aid into northwest Syria. It's time to strengthen alternative approaches—and investing in Syrian civil society is key.
September 13, 2023
Cuts to food aid could spark a severe crisis in Northwest Syria where 3 million people are already food insecure.
August 2, 2023
Donors must act quickly to fill the shortfall before 1.2 million Palestinians – including women and children – are left without critical humanitarian assistance.
July 12, 2023
The UN Security Council must renew authorizations for UN agencies to provide critical lifesaving aid to Northwest Syria.
July 6, 2023
In response to UNHCR's world refugee report, Jesse Marks calls for more durable solutions to address rising displacement globally.
June 15, 2023
The Biden administration has yet to articulate a clear policy for Syria. The time is now to make a tangible commitment to the protection of a robust humanitarian architecture.
June 12, 2023
While international aid architecture for Northwest Syria has evolved in the aftermath of the earthquake, the current response remains woefully inadequate.
June 8, 2023
It is delusional to push thousands of Syrians back into the hands of a regime whose widespread use of violence forced millions to flee.
May 18, 2023
Syrian refugees in Lebanon are facing a brutal crackdown by Lebanese authorities.
April 26, 2023
Syrian earthquake victims deserve more international help, but donors must ensure the recovery process does not bolster Assad’s regime.
March 21, 2023
