Challenges For u.s. PoliCy 2012...for u.s. policymakers, who see little choice but to adapt to the region’s new realities. The syrian revolution has stalled. in 2011, dictators fell

Lansdowne ResortLeesburg, VirginiaMay 4–6, 2012

2012 Weinberg Founders ConFerenCe

navigating the new ‘new Middle east’ Challenges For u.s. PoliCy 2012

Weinberg Founders Conference | May 4–6, 2012 1

W h en T h e Wash i ngTon i nsT i T u T e convened a conference at this time last year, the arab uprisings were still fresh, still personified by the youth of Tahrir square, and still met with a level of enthusiasm in Western capitals perhaps untethered to any clear assessment of the obstacles that lay ahead of the revolutionaries and the peoples whose hopes they symbolized. one year later, much has changed:

islamists are ascendant. What began as “Facebook revolutions” led by a young generation whose outlook, values, and technological and media savvy held a deep appeal in the West have given way to political transitions in Tunisia, Libya, and egypt in which islamist parties hold commanding positions. While hardly homogenous, these groups pose novel challenges for u.s. policymakers, who see little choice but to adapt to the region’s new realities.

The syrian revolution has stalled. in 2011, dictators fell with shocking ease: in a matter of months, Tunisia’s Ben ali, egypt’s Mubarak, Libya’s Qadhafi, and Yemen’s saleh were gone after decades of rule. syrian ruler Bashar al-assad has bucked that trend, hanging on to power even as Western policymakers insist his departure is “inevitable.” assad’s resilience and the failure of international mediation efforts suggest a rocky road ahead for syria, where a rupture with Tehran would net a strategic success for Washington.

The iranian nuclear issue is back at the fore. as tumult gripped the arab world, iran’s program seemed to fade into the background. But as Tehran’s nuclear progress and israel’s nuclear redlines have slowly converged, this longstanding issue has emerged at the top of Washington’s agenda. ongoing talks may indeed represent the last exit on the road to conflict with iran.

The historic changes in the Middle east over the past sixteen months have led all key players in the region to reassess their approaches. Turkey’s once-touted “zero problems” approach has been scrapped, with Turkish forces joining the fight against old ally Muammar Qadhafi and the dissolution of ankara’s recent rapprochement with Damascus. saudi arabia and the other gulf states have circled the wagons, reevaluating their dependence on the united states and increasingly striking out on their own. as diplomacy with the Palestinians has stalled, israel has seen its broader security assumptions overturned, as it now faces a “Wild West” in the sinai, unstable borders to the north, and perhaps a new war -- with the islamic Republic of iran -- unlike any it has yet fought.

Introduction

2 The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

as for Washington, an administration that championed “engagement” has been accused of disengagement as it struggles to find a new strategy for a region both critical and confounding. The test for President obama and his successors for years to come will be to emerge from the confusion and chaos of the past year to united these actors behind an updated vision for peace, freedom, and prosperity.

To explore these issues in depth and from a variety of perspectives, The Washington institute is pleased to welcome you to the 2012 Weinberg Founders Conference. This gathering—which brings together policymakers, diplomats, analysts, and journalists, joined by members of the institute’s Board of Trustees—will provide a unique opportunity to discuss challenges, debate solutions, and devise strategies at a critical time for the united states and the Middle east.

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Program

Friday, May 4

6:00 pm cocktails and reception Ballroom Foyer & Terrace

7:00 pm welcome Ballroom AB

Howard P. Berkowitz, chairman,WashingtonInstitute

dinner and keynote address Islamists, Liberals, and the Future of Egypt

chair: Martin J. gross, president,WashingtonInstitute Naguib Sawiris, founder,FreeEgyptiansParty moderator: Robert satloff, executivedirectorandHowardP.Berkowitz chairinU.S.MiddleEastpolicy,WashingtonInstitute

Saturday, May 5

7:00 am breakfast Riverside Hearth

8:45 am session 1 Ballroom AB

Iran Policy Options: Prevention, Containment, and the Nuclear Challenge

chair: Jan Zakowski, trustee,WashingtonInstitute Colin Kahl,formerdeputyassistantsecretaryofdefensefortheMiddleEast Dan Senor,adjunct senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations moderator: amb. Dennis Ross, counselor,WashingtonInstitute


After bin Laden: Is the War on Terror Over?

chair: shelly Kassen, BoardofDirectors,WashingtonInstitute Peter L. Bergen, director,NationalSecurityStudiesProgram, NewAmericaFoundation Juan Zarate,formerdeputynationalsecurityadvisor moderator: Matthew Levitt, director,SteinProgramonCounterterrorism andIntelligence,WashingtonInstitute


12:15 pm barbecue lunch Outside Pavilion Ballroom CD in case of rain

3:30 pm policy forum breakout sessions Inside the Fight against the Assad Regime Faulkner Room

chair: Dimitri sogoloff, treasurer, Washington Institute Rami Nakhla, Syrian opposition activist Andrew J. Tabler, Next Generation fellow, WashingtonInstitute Jeffrey White, defense fellow, WashingtonInstitute moderator: David Pollock, Kaufman fellow, WashingtonInstitute

Egypt: Whither the Revolution? Sarnoff Room

chair: David eigen, chair, Next Generation Leadership Council, Washington Institute Mahmoud Salem, political activist and blogger (aka Sandmonkey) Tamara Cofman Wittes, director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution Eric Trager, Ira Weiner fellow, WashingtonInstitute moderator: David schenker, Aufzien fellow and director, Program on Arab Politics, Washington Institute

Alternative Directions for Political Islam Bacon Room

chair: James schreiber, senior vice president, Washington Institute Soner Cagaptay, director, Turkish Research Program, WashingtonInstitute Ed Husain, senior fellow for Middle East studies, Council on Foreign Relations Mehdi Khalaji, senior fellow, Washington Institute moderator: Martin Kramer, Wexler-Fromer fellow, WashingtonInstitute

Understanding Chinese and Russian Middle East Policy Thurber Room

chair: Josh Weston, trustee, Washington Institute Pan Guang, director, Shanghai Center for International Studies Nikolay Kozhanov, visiting fellow, WashingtonInstitute moderator: Michael singh, managing director, WashingtonInstitute

6:00 pm cocktails Ballroom Foyer & Terrace


6:45 pm dinner & panel discussion Ballroom AB

Syria, U.S. Leadership, and the Direction of Change in the Middle East

chair: Mark Rothstein, trustee,WashingtonInstitute Fouad Ajami, seniorfellow,HooverInstitution,StanfordUniversity Peter David, Washingtonbureauchief, The economist Amb. Theodore Kattouf, president, AMIDEAST; former U.S. envoy to Syria Robert Satloff, executivedirectorandHowardP.Berkowitz chairinU.S.MiddleEastpolicy,WashingtonInstitute

Sunday, May 6

7:00 am breakfast Riverside Hearth


U.S.-Israel Relations in a Changing Middle East

chair: susan Wagner, trustee,WashingtonInstitute Amb. Robert Blackwill, HenryA.KissingerseniorfellowforU.S. foreignpolicy,CouncilonForeignRelations Amb. Dennis Ross, counselor,WashingtonInstitute Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin (IDF, Ret.), director,InstituteforNationalSecurity Studies,TelAvivUniversity moderator: David Makovsky, director,ProgramontheMiddleEast PeaceProcess,WashingtonInstitute

10:30 am closing address Ballroom AB

chair: Richard goodman, trustee,WashingtonInstitute Denis McDonough, assistanttothepresidentanddeputy nationalsecurityadvisor,Obamaadministration moderator: amb. Dennis Ross, counselor,WashingtonInstitute

closing remarks Ballroom AB

Robert Satloff, executivedirector,WashingtonInstitute

12:00 pm lunch available Riverside Hearth


Khairi Abaza is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focusing on arab demo-cratic reform, terrorism, and the influence of the media on politics, and a former visiting fellow at The Washington institute. he served previously as a member of egypt’s foreign affairs committee and secretary of the cultural committee of egypt’s Wafd Party. his columns have appeared in vari-ous publications such as the International Herald Tribune, New Republic, Newsweek, Foreign Affairs, National Interest, and Weekly Standard.

Ammar Abduhamid is a liberal syrian pro-democracy activist whose anti-regime activities led to his exile in september 2005. he is the founder of the Tharwa Foundation, a nonprofit orga-nization dedicated to democracy promotion, and currently a fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Michael Adler is a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson international Center for schol-ars and a former correspondent for agence France-Presse. he covered the international atomic energy agency in Vienna while with aFP and now writes about the iranian nuclear crisis and other nonproliferation issues.

Fouad Ajami is a senior fellow at the hoover institution and cochair of the herbert and Jane Dwight Working group on islamism and the international order. From 1980 to 2011, he was director of Middle east studies at Johns hopkins university. author of The Foreigner’s Gift (2006), The Dream Palace of the Arabs (1998), and other books, he is a frequent commentator in the u.s. and international media. his most recent book, The Syrian Rebellion, will be released next month.

Michael Allen is special assistant to the vice president at the national endowment for Democracy.

Ahmed al-Rahim is a professor of islamic studies at the university of Virginia, focusing on modern islamic political thought, and a former senior advisor on political islam in the state Department’s office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

Ziad Asali is founder and president of the american Task Force on Palestine. a retired physician, he previously served as president of the american-arab anti-Discrimination Committee and chair-man of the american Committee on Jerusalem. he is also founder and chairman of american Charities for Palestine, an organization that works with the u.s. agency for international Devel-opment to help meet Palestinian humanitarian needs.

Yossi Baidatz, a major general in the israel Defense Forces, is the current commander of the israel national Defense College and israel’s military academies, as well as former head of the iDF’s Mili-tary intelligence Research Division. he is a former visiting military fellow at The Washington institute.

Biographical Notes


Shmuel Bar is director of studies at the institute for Policy and strategy, part of the interdisciplin-ary Center, herzliya, and an adjunct fellow at the hudson institute. he is also founder and Ceo of intuView, an israeli company dealing in artificial intelligence software for counterterrorism pur-poses. From 1973 to 2003, he served in the israeli intelligence community, first with the military and later in the office of the Prime Minister. his areas of focus include the ideology and opera-tional codes of islamic fundamentalist movements and al-Qaeda.

Dwight Bashir is deputy director for policy and research at the united states Commission on international Religious Freedom. he has written numerous reports on the status of human rights and religious freedom in the Middle east and advocated policy recommendations before succes-sive administrations and Congress. he has been interviewed by major national and international media, including Cnn, Fox news, Washington Post, national Public Radio, and the associated Press, as well as regionally-focused media, such as al-arabiya, aljazeera, and BBC arabic and Per-sian services.

Peter Bergen is director of the new america Foundation’s national security studies Program and author of The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and al-Qaeda, which won top honors in the 2011 Washington institute Book Prize. his other books include the bestsellers Holy War, Inc. (2001) and The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al-Qaeda’s Leader (2006). in addition, he is a national security analyst for Cnn and a fellow at new York university’s Center on Law and security.

Karen Betts is a political counselor at the British embassy in Washington, covering the Middle east, counterterrorism, and counterproliferation. a representative of the Joint intelligence Com-mittee, she joined the Foreign and Commonwealth office in 2001, having previously worked as a lawyer. her previous posts include deputy director of afghanistan, Pakistan, india, and Russia for the Cabinet office assessments staff, deputy head of the FCo’s iraq group, and political coun-selor at the British embassy in Baghdad.

Douglas Birch writes about arms-control and disarmament issues for the associated Press. as a former foreign correspondent for the Baltimore sun and aP Moscow bureau chief, he has reported from two dozen countries over the past decade.

Robert D. Blackwill is the henry a. Kissinger senior fellow for u.s. foreign policy at the Coun-cil on Foreign Relations. in government, he served under george W. Bush as u.s. ambassador to india and then as deputy assistant to the president, deputy national security adviser for strategic planning, and presidential envoy to iraq. a former senior state Department official and national security Council aide for european and soviet affairs, he served out of government as a senior fellow at the Rand Corporation, president of BgR international, and associate dean of harvard university’s Kennedy school of government.


Laura Blumenfeld, formerly a reporter with the Washington Post, is a senior transatlantic fellow at the german Marshall Fund of the united states. she is the author of the best-selling book Revenge: a Story of Hope.

Soner Cagaptay is director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington institute. appearing frequently in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Jane’s Defense Weekly, aljazeera, nPR, and the BBC, he is also a regular columnist with both Cnn’s Global Public Square blog and Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey’s oldest and most influential english-language paper. he also serves on contract as chair of the Turkey advanced area studies Program at the state Department’s Foreign service institute.

Perry Cammack is a staff member for Middle east affairs with the senate Committee on Foreign Relations, working for Chairman John Kerry since 2009. Previously, he worked on the staff of then senator Joe Biden. his responsibilities include providing political and legislative analysis on the region for Chairman Kerry, providing congressional oversight on the state Department’s Mid-dle east programs, assisting in the drafting of laws and speeches, and organizing public hearings. his duties include frequent trips to the Middle east.

J. Scott Carpenter is the deputy director of google ideas, the company’s “think/do” tank, where he is responsible for overseeing the illicit networks portfolio and shaping strategy in three key areas: confronting violent extremism, expanding freedom of expression in closed societies, and using technology in governance. Previously, he founded and directed Project Fikra as the Keston Family fellow at The Washington institute, where he remains an adjunct fellow. in government, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of near east affairs, responsible for the Middle east Partnership initiative.

Robert Cekuta is principal deputy assistant secretary at the state Department’s Bureau of energy Resources, where he works on u.s. global energy security issues and oversees the transparency and energy access portfolios. his previous posts include director of the iraq economic Task Force, senior deputy coordinating director at the u.s. embassy in Kabul, and deputy assistant secretary for energy, sanctions, and commodities. as economic minister-counselor in germany, he led the u.s. government’s engagement on the full range of economic issues while also participating in efforts to combat terrorism and international crime.

Patrick Clawson is director of research at The Washington institute, where he directs the iran security initiative. Widely consulted as an analyst and media commentator, he has authored more than 150 articles about the Middle east and international economics as well as eighteen books or studies on iran. Dr. Clawson appears frequently on television and radio, and his opinion pieces are widely published in major newspapers including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Wash-


ington Post. he has also testified before congressional committees more than twenty times and has served as an expert witness in more than thirty federal cases against iran.

Elizabeth Colton is a consultant on diplomacy, politics, and the media. she recently concluded a distinguished career in the foreign service during which she was posted in many of the world’s most challenging capitals, including Khartoum, algiers, islamabad, Baghdad, and, most recently, Cairo.

Robert Danin is the eni enrico Mattei senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. From april 2008 to august 2010, he headed the office of the Quartet Representative, overseeing Tony Blair’s mission in Jerusalem. a former career state Department official with more than twenty years of Middle east experience, he served as deputy assistant secretary for near east-ern affairs and as member of the national security Council’s near east and north african affairs Directorate.

Peter David has spent nearly thirty years with the Economist, working as foreign editor, business editor, British political editor, and Middle east specialist. he assumed his present position as Washington bureau chief and author of the “Lexington” column in summer 2010.

Howard Diamond is the Democratic staff director for the house Foreign affairs subcommit-tee on the Middle east and south asia, where he assists ranking Democratic member Rep. gary ackerman (nY). Previously, he served as Rep. ackerman’s deputy chief of staff and legislative director.

Jackson Diehl is deputy editorial page editor with the Washington Post, where he writes a biweekly foreign affairs column. Diehl was awarded an inter american Press association award in 1984 for his coverage of south america and the overseas Press Club of america’s Bob Considine award in 1990 for his coverage of eastern europe. he was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing in 2011.

Anne Dreazen is an iran country director in the office of the undersecretary of Defense for Poli-cy’s Middle east bureau. in 2008–2009, she served as a governance and elections coordinator on the embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team in Falluja, iraq.

Geoff Dyer covers u.s. foreign policy for the Financial Times and was previously its China bureau chief in Beijing, shanghai correspondent, and Brazil bureau chief.

Michael Eisenstadt is a senior fellow and director of The Washington institute’s Military and secu-rity studies Program. a specialist in Persian gulf and arab-israeli security affairs, he has published widely on the armed forces, irregular and conventional warfare, and nuclear weapons proliferation of the Middle east. his recent institute publications include Nuclear Fatwa: Religion and Politics in Iran’s Proliferation Strategy and Iran’s Influence in Iraq: Countering Tehran’s Whole-of-Government Approach.


Shai Feldman is a professor of politics and the Judith and sidney swartz director of the Crown Center for Middle east studies at Brandeis university. he is also a senior fellow and board mem-ber with the Belfer Center for science and international affairs at harvard university’s Kennedy school of government, where he cochairs the Crown-Belfer Middle east Project. From 1997 to 2005, he was head of Tel aviv university’s Jaffee Center for strategic studies.

Alberto Fernandez was recently appointed u.s. coordinator for strategic counterterrorism commu-nications in the state Department. CsCC is an interagency initiative tasked with leading the gov-ernment’s public communications effort to counter violent extremism. Previously, he served as u.s. ambassador to equatorial guinea and as charge d’affaires of the u.s. embassy in Khartoum, sudan.

Marvin Feuer is director of policy and government affairs at the american israel Public affairs Committee, guiding the organization’s lobbying, research, and policy development efforts. his government service includes past posts in the White house and the state and Defense Depart-ments, as well as on Capitol hill. he has also served as senior strategic fellow at The Washington institute and adjunct professor at Johns hopkins university’s school of advanced international studies, teaching courses in u.s. defense policy and Middle eastern security problems.

Lorna Fitzsimons is the former Ceo of the Britain israel Communications and Research Center and a former Labor member of Parliament. she has been a visiting fellow at the uK Defence acad-emy, where she led early work on the homegrown radicalization of the British Muslim community.

Robert Ford is the u.s. ambassador to syria, despite his withdrawal from Damascus. a career member of the foreign service and former ambassador to algeria, he heads Washington’s outreach to the syrian opposition. earlier this year, John F. Kennedy Memorial Library honored him with its “Profile in Courage award” for his efforts to bear witness to the atrocities against civilians dur-ing the uprising against the assad regime. (Amb. Ford addressed a pre-conference gathering of Wash-ington Institute Trustees.)

Joseph Gebeily is president of the Lebanese information Center and vice president for governmen-tal affairs with the american Lebanese Coalition, which he cofounded in 2003. he works with members of the u.s. administration, Congress, and the un regarding policy toward Lebanon in particular and the Middle east in general. a regular speaker on Lebanese and regional issues, he has appeared on al-hurra, aljazeera, al-arabiya, Voice of america, Cnn international, the Leba-nese Broadcasting Corporation, and other outlets.

Marc Ginsberg, a former ambassador and presidential advisor on Middle east policy, is the senior managing director for aPCo Worldwide and founding president of Layalina Productions, a pro-lific creator of original arabic-language prime-time television and educational media. he also advises the Defense and state Departments on strategic communications in the Muslim world.


his analysis appears regularly in the Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washing-ton Post, Foreign Policy, and numerous other u.s. and international outlets.

Pan Guang is vice chairman of the shanghai Center for international studies, director of the shanghai Cooperation organization studies Center, dean of the Center of Jewish studies shang-hai, and vice president of the Chinese association of Middle east studies. he has also served as senior advisor on antiterrorism affairs to shanghai Municipality and the Chinese Ministry of Pub-lic security. a prolific researcher, writer, and lecturer, he has traveled widely in north america, asia, europe, and the Middle east.

Nathan Guttman is Washington bureau chief for the Forward newspaper and israel’s Channel 1 television. he has been covering u.s.-israel relations and the israeli-arab peace process for the past two decades from both Jerusalem and Washington, focusing on shifting bilateral relations, the intersection of politics and policy, and the political role played by the american Jewish com-munity. Prior to joining the Forward, he worked as a staff writer for Haaretz.

Karim Haggag, a career egyptian diplomat, is currently a visiting faculty member at the national Defense university’s near east and south asia Center for strategic studies, focusing on the impli-cations of the arab revolutions. he has served in numerous capacities with the egyptian foreign service, with responsibility for portfolios such as regional security, arms control, nonproliferation, and arab-israeli diplomacy. From 2007 to 2011, he served as the director of the egyptian Press and information office in Washington. Previously, he worked in the office of the Presidency in Cairo and the political section of the egyptian embassy in Washington.

David A. Harris serves as the president and Ceo of the national Jewish Democratic Council. he has served previously as nJDC’s deputy executive director, executive director of the israel on Campus Coalition, director of governmental and Public affairs for the american Jewish Con-gress, and as the Washington representative for the israel Policy Forum.

Olli Heinonen, a senior fellow with the Belfer Center for science and international affairs at har-vard university’s Kennedy school of government, served twenty-seven years at the international atomic energy agency in Vienna. as deputy director-general and head of the agency’s Depart-ment of safeguards, he led iaea efforts to identify and dismantle nuclear proliferation networks, including that of Pakistani scientist a. Q. Khan. he also oversaw efforts to monitor and contain iran’s nuclear program.

Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the gulf and energy Policy Program at The Washington institute, specializing in energy matters and the conservative arab states of the Per-sian gulf. a former journalist with the Financial Times, Mr. henderson worked as a consultant for corporations and governments on the Persian gulf. he has served as a BBC foreign correspon-


dent in Pakistan and reported from iran during the 1979 islamic revolution and seizure of the u.s. embassy. Mr. henderson writes and appears frequently in the media discussing the internal political dynamics of the house of saud, energy developments, events in iraq, and Pakistan’s nuclear pro-gram, including the work of Pakistani nuclear scientist a. Q. Khan.

Michael Herzog, a retired brigadier general in the israel Defense Forces, is an israel-based Milton Fine international fellow with The Washington institute. over the past decade, he has held sev-eral senior positions in the office of the Minister of Defense, including chief of staff. his military career also includes service as head of the strategic Planning Division, member of the intelligence Corps, and infantry soldier during the 1973 war. in addition, he has played a key role in the arab-israeli peace process, participating in most of israel’s negotiations with the Palestinians, Jordani-ans, and syrians since 1993. his publications include the institute study Minding the Gaps: Territo-rial Issues in Israeli-Palestinian Peacemaking (2011).

Ed Husain is a senior fellow for Middle eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, focus-ing on the rise of islamist movements in the Middle east as well as international threats from extremism and terrorism. Previously, he cofounded and codirected the Quilliam Foundation, the world’s first counterradicalization think tank. a former activist for radical islamist organiza-tions in Britain, he has now become a strong critic of extremism and islamism, authoring the blog The Arab Street and contributing to Cnn, Fox news, nPR, BBC, aljazeera, the New York Times, Guardian, and other outlets. his books include The Islamist (2007), a finalist for the george orwell Prize for political writing, as well as the forthcoming The Sufis.

Rachel Ingber is a senior Middle east analyst for the u.s. government.

Michael Jacobson is a senior advisor in the state Department’s office of the Counterterrorism Coordinator. Previously, he served as a soref fellow and a senior fellow in The Washington insti-tute’s stein Program on Counterterrorism and intelligence, authoring studies such as Terrorist Dropouts: Learning from Those Who Have Left (2010). his other past posts include senior advisor at the Treasury Department’s office of Terrorism and Financial intelligence, counsel on the 9-11 Commission, and assistant general counsel at the FBi.

Ash Jain is a visiting fellow at The Washington institute, focusing on iran’s regional ambitions. a former member of the state Department’s Policy Planning staff, he provided guidance to u.s. officials on a range of strategic challenges, including those posed by iran, syria, hizballah, and hamas. he also analyzed prospects for regional cooperation and, as a special advisor with the department’s Bureau of international security and nonproliferation, examined u.s. options for addressing iran’s nuclear program. in addition, he served as deputy associate director at the White house office of global Communications and as an adjunct professor of constitutional law and


politics at george Washington university. his commentary has appeared on Fox news, BBC, nPR, the Los Angeles Times, and other outlets.

Avi Jorisch is the founder of RedCell intelligence group, an international security and busi-ness intelligence firm. he is also a senior fellow at the american Foreign Policy Council, a fellow at the air Force special operations school, and an advisory board member for united against nuclear iran. he has served as a policy advisor with the Treasury Department’s office of Terrorism and Financial intelligence and as a terrorism consultant for the Defense Depart-ment. he is the author of several books, including Iran’s Dirty Banking: How the Islamic Republic Skirts International Financial Sanctions (2010) and Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballah’s al-Manar Television (2004), the latter authored during his tenure as a soref fellow with The Washing- ton institute.

Colin Kahl is an associate professor in the security studies Program at georgetown university’s edmund a. Walsh school of Foreign service and a senior fellow at the Center for a new american security. From February 2009 through December 2011, he served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle east, developing and implementing the department’s policy toward the region. he has published widely on u.s. defense strategy, including in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Pol-icy, Middle East Policy, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.

Marvin Kalb, edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice, emeritus, and senior fellow at harvard university’s Joan shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, was the shoren-stein Center’s founding director and edward R. Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy (1987 to 1999). his distinguished journalism career encompasses thirty years of award-win-ning reporting for CBs and nBC news, as chief diplomatic correspondent, Moscow bureau chief, and host of Meet the Press. he has authored or coauthored ten nonfiction books and two best-selling novels.

Ron Kampeas has been the Washington bureau chief for the Jewish Telegraphic agency since 2003. Before that, he worked for the associated Press in Washington, Jerusalem, new York, and London, with stints in Belfast, Vienna, sarajevo, istanbul, Kinshasa, and Kabul.

Joyce Karam is the Washington correspondent for al-Hayat newspaper, the leading arabic daily based in London.

Burak Kararti joined the Turkish foreign service in 1999 and was posted to the country’s embassy in Washington in 2010. his previous postings include London, Rome, and ulan Bator. he holds a master’s degree in Middle eastern studies.

Theodore Kattouf is president of aMiDeasT, the largest u.s. educational and training organiza-


tion operating in the Middle east. Previously, in a distinguished diplomatic career that spanned more than thirty years, he was posted to Kuwait, Baghdad, sanaa and Riyadh and served as ambas-sador to the united arab emirates and syria.

Brian Katulis is a senior fellow at the Center for american Progress.

Allen Keiswetter, a retired senior foreign service officer, is currently a senior consultant at C&o Resources and a scholar at the Middle east institute. he has taught at the national Defense intel-ligence College, the national War College, and the university of Maryland. While with the state Department, he served as deputy assistant secretary for near eastern affairs and was posted to the embassies in Riyadh, sana, Yemen, Khartoum, Baghdad, and Beirut.

Mehdi Khalaji is a senior fellow at The Washington institute, focusing on the politics of iran and shiite groups in the Middle east. a shiite theologian by training, Mr. Khalaji has also served on the editorial boards of two prominent iranian periodicals and produced for the BBC as well as the u.s. government’s Persian news service. he has worked for BBC Persian as a political analyst on iranian affairs, eventually becoming a broadcaster for the Prague-based Radio Farda, the Persian-language service of the u.s. government’s Radio Free europe/Radio Liberty, where he produced news, features, and analysis on a range of Middle eastern, iranian, and islamic issues. he is the author, most recently, of the study Supreme Succession: Who Will Lead Post-Khamenei Iran?

Zalmay Khalilzad is president of gryphon Partners, a consulting and investment firm focusing on the Middle east and Central asia. his public service includes tours as u.s. permanent representa-tive to the un, ambassador to iraq, and ambassador to afghanistan.

Michael Knights is a Lafer fellow at The Washington institute, specializing in the military and security affairs of iraq, iran, Yemen, and the gulf arab states. he has traveled extensively in the region, published widely on security issues for major media outlets such as the Jane’s information group, and lectured regularly at u.s. and British military institutions. as head of the iraq analysis and assessments cell for the olive group, a private security provider, he directed information col-lection teams in iraq.

Nikolay Kozhanov is a visiting fellow at The Washington institute. From 2006 to 2009, he served as an attaché at the political section of the Russian embassy in Tehran, where his portfolio included socio-economic and energy issues, and foreign policies of iran.

Martin Kramer is The Washington institute’s Wexler-Fromer fellow and author of its bestselling monograph, Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America. he is a former director of Tel aviv universitiy’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle eastern and african studies; served twice as a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson international Center for scholars; and, as a senior


fellow at harvard university’s olin institute for strategic studies, founded Middle east strategy at harvard (Mesh). an authority on contemporary islam and arab politics, he is currently a senior fellow at the shalem Center and Jerusalem and president-designate of shalem College.

Hilary Krieger is Washington bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post, reporting on the White house, state Department, Pentagon, Congress, and the 2012 presidential race.

Matthew Kroenig is a stanton nuclear security fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an assistant professor of government at georgetown university. The author or editor of several books, including Exporting the Bomb: Technology Transfer and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons (2010), he has published articles in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. he formerly served as a strategist and special advisor in the office of the sec-retary of Defense, where he worked on counterterrorism and iran policy.

Matthew Levitt is director of The Washington institute’s stein Program on Counterterrorism and intelligence and a professorial lecturer in international relations and strategic studies at Johns hopkins sais. Formerly a deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department and a counterterrorism intelligence analyst at the FBi, he has held fellowships with West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center and gWu’s homeland security Policy institute, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the international advisory boards of the institute for Counter-terrorism in israel and the international Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research in singapore.

Samuel Lewis is a retired career foreign service officer with thirty-five years of experience, includ-ing eight as ambassador to israel under Presidents Carter and Reagan. his various positions in and out of government include serving as first president of the u.s. institute of Peace, director of the state Department Policy Planning staff under President Clinton, and adjunct professor at both georgetown university and Johns hopkins university’s school of advanced international stud-ies. a charter member of The Washington institute’s Board of advisors, he remains active with ngos focused on Middle east peace efforts and foreign affairs, including search for Common ground, Partners for Democratic Change, and the institute for the study of Diplomacy.

Robert Lieber is a professor of government and international affairs at georgetown university. author or editor of sixteen books on international relations and u.s. foreign policy, he has served as an advisor to several presidential campaigns, to the state Department, and to the drafters of u.s. national intelligence estimates. his latest book, Power and Willpower in the American Future: Why the United States Is Not Destined to Decline, has just been published by Cambridge university Press.

Alan Makovsky is a senior professional staff member (Dem.) on the house Committee on For-eign affairs, where he covers the Middle east, Turkey, and the Caucasus. at the state Depart-


ment, where he worked from 1983 to 1994, he covered southern european affairs and Middle east affairs for the Bureau of intelligence and Research. he has also served as political advisor to oper-ation Provide Comfort, special advisor to then special Middle east Coordinator Dennis Ross, and senior fellow at The Washington institute.

David Makovsky is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of the Project on the Middle east Peace Process at The Washington institute and an adjunct professor in Middle east studies at Johns hopkins university’s Paul h. nitze school of advanced international studies (sais). author of numerous Washington institute monographs and essays on issues related to the Mid-dle east Peace Process and the arab-israeli conflict, he is also coauthor, with Dennis Ross, of the 2009 Washington Post bestseller Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for Amer-ica in the Middle East. his 2011 maps on alternative territorial solutions to the israeli-Palestin-ian conflict were reprinted by the new York Times in the paper’s first interactive treatment of an op-ed.

Michael Makovsky is foreign policy director of the Bipartisan Policy Center, where he has man-aged projects on iran’s nuclear development, Yemen, Russia, and strategic public diplomacy. Previ-ously, he served in the office of the secretary of Defense and the Coalition Provisional authority and worked as an energy market analyst at investment firms. he is author of Churchill’s Promised Land (2007), a diplomatic-intellectual history of the late prime minister’s complex relationship with Zionism. he holds a doctorate in diplomatic history from harvard and an MBa in finance from Columbia Business school.

Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian a. herter professor of american foreign policy at Johns hop-kins university’s school of advanced international studies, where he directs the american Foreign Policy Program. he has also taught at harvard, Columbia, and the u.s. naval academy. a member of The Washington institute’s Board of advisors, he is author or coauthor of thirteen books, includ-ing That Used To Be Us: How America Fell Behind the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back (2011), The Frugal Superpower: America’s Global Leadership in a Cash-Strapped Era (2010), and The Case for Goliath: How America Acts as the World’s Government in the Twenty-First Century (2006).

Robert Marcus is a professional staff member of the house Committee on Foreign affairs, responsible for advising ranking member howard Berman on issues related to the Middle east and north africa. he served previously as a foreign policy/military legislative assistant to Rep. Jan schakowsky (D-iL). in 2011, he was selected as one of the “Top 99 Most influential international Professionals under 33” by Diplomatic Courier Magazine.

Scott Mastic is regional director for the Middle east and north africa at the international Republi-can institute, leading initiatives on political party building, civil society, and democratic governance


throughout the region and playing a key role in the organization’s polling efforts in arab countries. in 2011, he served as an international observer during Tunisia and egypt’s historic elections.

Denis McDonough is assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor, obama administration. Previously, he served on the national security Council as head of strategic com-munications and as chief of staff.

Matthew McManus is director of public diplomacy energy resources at the state Department.

Natasha Mozgovaya has been the chief u.s. correspondent for Haaretz since 2008. Previously, she worked for Yediot Aharonot newspaper, reporting from around the world on topics such as human trafficking in eastern europe, the aiDs epidemic in africa, clashes with the Kurdistan Workers Party in Turkey, and postelection riots in Kenya. she has also anchored several hebrew and Rus-sian television programs in israel.

Joshua Muravchik is a fellow at the Johns hopkins university school of advanced international studies, a fellow at the george W. Bush institute, and a Washington institute adjunct scholar. The author of nine books and more than 400 articles, he is currently completing the study How the World Turned Against Israel.

Rami Nakhla, a syrian activist and member of the syrian national Council, is also the Website and activities Director for the syrian Center for Media and Freedom of expression. Mr. nakhla is par-ticularly interested in uncovering gender inequality and discrimination in syria and has dedicated the majority of his professional career to highlighting this issue. Mr. nakhla is the founder of Syria Press, a daily electronic newspaper, and has established a “get Your Rights” group that offers tech-nical help to syrians to work around government censorship of the internet.

Magnus Norell is an adjunct scholar with The Washington institute, focusing on the conflict between israel and hizballah. a senior research fellow at the swedish institute for international affairs in stockholm, he formerly served as a senior analyst and project leader at the swedish Defense Research agency. From 1997 to 2000, he created a back channel between hizballah and israel to facilitate the latter’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. he has also served as an analyst for the swedish secret service and swedish Military intelligence.

Can Oguz is counselor of the Turkish embassy in Washington. he joined the Ministry of Foreign affairs in 2000, working at the Deputy Directorate general for Multilateral affairs as third sec-retary until 2003. Later, as second secretary, he was assigned to the Turkish embassies in Baghdad and London. upon returning to Turkey in 2008, he worked at the Deputy Directorate general for iraq as first secretary.

Ghaith al-Omari is executive director of the american Task Force on Palestine. The lead Palestinian


drafter of the geneva initiative, he served as an advisor to Palestinian president Mahmoud abbas and to the Palestinian peace process negotiating team.

Thomas Parker, a lecturer at george Washington university’s elliot school of international affairs, has worked in national security positions for the u.s. government for more than 25 years; he is currently in the office of the secretary of Defense, focusing on iraq, iran, afghanistan, and China. he has also served in the executive office of the president, the state Department’s Policy Planning office, the intelligence community, and the Department of Commerce. he was foreign affairs and defense advisor to senator Joseph Lieberman of the armed services Committee.

Adam Pechter is the founder of Pechter Polls, and principal investigator on approximately one public opinion survey per month in the Middle east.

Yoram Peri, a former political advisor to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, is the abraham s. and Jack Kay chair in israel studies at the university of Maryland, where he directs the new Joseph and alma gildenhorn institute for israel studies. While at Tel aviv university, he founded and directed the Chaim herzog institute for Media, Politics, and society and served as a professor of political sociology and communication. Former editor-in-chief of the israeli daily Davar, he has pub-lished extensively on social, political, and media issues, including the books Generals in the Cabinet Room: How the Military Shapes Israeli Policy (2006) and The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (2000).

Gen. David Petraeus (USA, Ret.) is the current director of the Central intelligence agency, sworn in on september 6, 2011, after a 37-year career in the u.s. army. Prior to retiring, he was assigned as commander of the international security assistance Force and commander, u.s. Forces afghanistan. his other four-star assignments include serving as the 10th commander, u.s. Cen-tral Command, and as commanding general, Multi-national Force–iraq. (Gen. Petraeus addressed a pre-conference gathering of Washington Institute Trustees.)

Daniel Pipes is president of the Middle east Forum and the Taube distinguished visiting fellow at stanford university’s hoover institution. a former state Department official and presiden-tial appointee, he has taught at the university of Chicago, harvard, the u.s. naval War College, and Pepperdine university. he has written twelve books, and his website, DanielPipes.org, has recorded 62 million page visits. he also writes a biweekly column for the Jerusalem Post, National Review, and other publications.

David Pollock is the Kaufman fellow at The Washington institute, focusing on the political dynam-ics of Middle eastern countries. Previously, he served as senior advisor for the Broader Middle east at the state Department, providing counsel on democracy and reform in the region, with a focus on women’s rights. in addition, he served as chief of near east/south asia/africa research at the u.s. information agency, where he supervised the government’s study of public opinion, elite attitudes,


and media content across those regions. his publications include the 2010 institute report Actions, Not Just Attitudes: A New Paradigm for U.S.-Arab Relations. Dr. Pollock has also served as a visiting lecturer at harvard university and an assistant professor at george Washington university.

Samantha Ravich is cochair of the national Commission for Review of Research and Develop-ment Programs of the united states intelligence Community. in addition, she consults both private industry and federal and state governments on international security, financial issues, and political risk. From 2009 to 2011, she was senior vice president at iPs, a software and analysis firm that grew out of Los alamos Labs. in government, she served as deputy national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney. Currently, she is a senior advisor to the Cher-toff group.

Donna Rosenthal, a former israeli television news producer and reporter for israel Radio and the Jerusalem Post, is author of the award-winning book The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordi-nary Land (2003). she has reported from iran, Lebanon, egypt, Jordan, and ethiopia, with articles appearing in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Atlantic, and Newsweek.

Dennis Ross rejoined The Washington institute as counselor in December 2011 after serving as special assistant to President obama, senior director for the central region at the national secu-rity Council, and special advisor to secretary of state hillary Clinton, focusing on iran. a scholar and diplomat with more than two decades of experience, he played a leading role in shaping u.s. involvement in the arab-israeli peace process, serving as the point man on negotiations during the george h. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. his books include The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace (2004), Statecraft, and How to Restore America’s Standing in the World (2007) , and Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East (2009, with David Makovsky).

Mahmoud Salem, better know as sandmonkey, is the founder of the popular egyptian blog Rant-ings of a Sandmonkey. his commentary addresses issues ranging from egyptian and american politics to women in egypt. he also features stories about other dissidents and bloggers and their arrests by the egyptian police. he has recently proposed the creation of an organization that focuses on the “causes of bloggers and freedom of speech in the Middle east.”

A. William (Bill) Samii is an analyst with the state Department’s Bureau of intelligence and Research.

Robert Satloff is executive director and howard P. Berkowitz chair in u.s. Middle east policy at The Washington institute. an expert on arab and islamic politics, he has written widely on the arab-israeli peace process, the challenge of islamism, and the need to revamp u.s. public diplo-macy in the Middle east. he is the author of the bestselling Among the Righteous: Lost Stories of the


Holocaust’s Long Reach into Arab Lands (2006), which was made into a PBs documentary film in 2010. in addition, he is the creator and host of Dakhil Washington (inside Washington), a weekly news and interview program now in its seventh season on al-hurra, the u.s.-supported arabic sat-ellite television channel that beams throughout the Middle east.

David Schenker is the aufzien fellow and director of the Program on arab Politics at The Wash-ington institute. Previously, he served in the office of the secretary of Defense as Levant country director, the Pentagon’s top policy aide on the arab countries of the Levant. he was awarded the office of the secretary of Defense Medal for exceptional Civilian service in 2005. a widely pub-lished author, his most recent institute publication is Egypt’s Enduring Challenges: Shaping the Post-Mubarak Environment.

Naguib Sawiris, the executive chairman of orascom Telecom Media and Technology holding, is a passionate advocate for democracy and secularism in egypt. in the wake of the January 2011 revo-lution, he founded the liberal Free egyptians Party (al-Masryeen al-ahrar), recognized as a leading defender of democratic values, pluralism, and civil society. he also serves on the board of several key organizations, including the arab Thought Foundation, the egyptian Council for Foreign affairs, and the Consumer Rights Protection association of egypt.

Dan Senor is a foreign policy advisor to presidential candidate Mitt Romney and an adjunct senior fellow for Middle east studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. he is a former senior advi-sor to the Coalition Provisional authority in iraq, director of the Coalition information Center, and adviser to the office of Reconstruction and humanitarian assistance. appointed by President george W. Bush to serve on the honorary delegation to Jerusalem for the sixtieth anniversary of israel’s statehood, he is the coauthor, with saul singer, of Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Eco-nomic Miracle (2009).

Gadi Shamni, a major general in the israel Defense Forces, is israel’s defense and armed forces atta-ché to the united states and the former head of iDF Central Command.

Jeremy M. Sharp is a specialist on the Middle east at the Congressional Research service where he provides analysis on u.s. policy in the Middle east in the Middle east to members of Congress and their staffs. he the author of several congressional reports on u.s. bilateral relations with egypt, Jordan, syria, and Yemen as well as studies on u.s. foreign aid to the Middle east and the promo-tion of democracy in the region. several of his articles on Yemen have been published by the Carn-egie endowment’s Arab Reform Bulletin.

Sameh Shoukry has served as egypt’s ambassador to the united states since september 2008. his previous posts include permanent representative to the un in geneva, ambassador to austria, director of the foreign minister’s cabinet, presidential secretary for information and follow-up, and


head of the Foreign Ministry’s united states and Canada department. a career diplomat, he has also served in the egyptian missions in London, Buenos aires, and new York, specializing in dis-armament and nonproliferation issues.

Lawrence Silverman is the incoming director of israel and Palestinian affairs at the state Depart-ment and former special advisor for europe and eurasia in the office of the Vice President. he has also served abroad, with posts in Jordan, syria, and the u.s. consulate general in Jerusalem. Dur-ing his tenure as special advisor to then assistant secretary for near eastern affairs William Burns, he helped establish the Quartet on Middle east Peace. Previously, he was the u.s. liaison to the Jordanian-Palestinian delegation at the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference and to the israeli delega-tion at the 1998 Wye River talks.

Michael Singh is managing director of The Washington institute and former senior director for Middle east affairs at the national security Council. at the White house, he was responsible for devising and implementing strategies on a wide range of regional issues, including iran’s nuclear efforts, the arab-israeli peace process, and human rights promotion. Prior to that, he served as special assistant to secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, and as staff assistant at the u.s. embassy in Tel aviv. a member of the Harvard International Review Board of advisors, he has written extensively for the Wall Street Journal, World Affairs, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other outlets, in addition to frequent appearances on Fox news, nBC, CBs, and the BBC. he has also served as an adjunct fellow at harvard university’s Kennedy school of government, where he directed the iran negotiations Working group.

Jay Solomon is the lead foreign affairs correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, focusing on the Middle east, asia, and nonproliferation issues.

Erin Staine-Pyne, a lieutenant colonel in the u.s. air Force, is a visiting military fellow at The Washington institute. she previously served as assistant executive officer and aide-de-camp to the commander of air Force Mobility Command at scott air Force Base and served on the air Mobility Command staff as Chief of C-130 Combat Programs, developing revolutionary airdrop systems to conduct aerial resupply in support of humanitarian relief operations in hos- tile environments.

Kenneth Stein is director of emory university’s Middle east Research Program and founding director of the institute for the study of Modern israel, a program that enhances the undergradu-ate setting with visiting scholars in israel studies. he has written prolifically on the development of modern israel, american foreign policy toward the Middle east, origins and development of the arab-israel conflict, and modern arab history. his publications include Mediniut Amitza [Coura-geous Policy], Heroic Diplomacy: Sadat, Kissinger, Carter, Begin and the Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace,


and Making Peace Among Arabs and Israelis: Lessons from Fifty Years of Negotiating Experience, with samuel W. Lewis.

Andrew J. Tabler is a next generation fellow in The Washington institute’s Program on arab Politics, focusing on syria and u.s. policy in the Levant. Cofounder and former editor-in-chief of Syria Today, the country’s first private-sector english-language magazine, he has served as a con-sultant on u.s.-syria relations for the international Crisis group and a fellow of the institute of Current World affairs. author of In the Lion’s Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington’s Battle with Syria (2011), he has published numerous articles in major media outlets worldwide and inter-viewed prominent political figures such as shimon Peres, Yasser arafat, asma al-assad, Rafiq hariri, Fouad siniora, and saad hariri.

Samuel Tadros is a research fellow at the hudson institute and former senior partner with the egyptian union of Liberal Youth, an organization that aims to spread the ideas of classical liber-alism in that country. a professorial lecturer at Johns hopkins university’s school of advanced international studies, he is currently writing a book about the Copts in modern egypt.

Puneet Talwar is the special assistant to the president and senior director for iraq, iran, and the gulf states at the national security Council, where he oversees u.s. policy toward iran, iraq, Yemen, saudi arabia, the uae, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and oman.

Eric Trager, the ira Weiner fellow at The Washington institute, is a doctoral candidate in politi-cal science at the university of Pennsylvania, focusing on egyptian opposition parties. he was in egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts, and his writings have appeared in the Atlantic, New Republic, Foreign Affairs, and other publications. in addition, he lived in egypt as an islamic civili-zations Fulbright fellow in 2006–2007, studying at the american university in Cairo and obtain-ing a master’s degree in arabic studies with a concentration in islamic studies. he also served as a research assistant at the institute from 2005 to 2006 upon graduation from harvard university.

Joby Warrick is a national security reporter for the Washington Post, currently focusing on iran and the Middle east. a fifteen-year veteran of the Post, he previously worked for the paper’s investiga-tive unit and covered the intelligence community and weapons of mass destruction proliferation. his first book was The Triple Agent (2011), the story of the Jordanian agent who led the Cia into a fatal trap in afghanistan in 2009. Co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 1996, he also received the overseas Press Club of america’s Bob Considine award in 2004 for best news-paper interpretation of international affairs.

Margaret Weiss is a research associate at The Washington institute, focusing on the u.s.-israeli strategic alliance. after earning a bachelor’s degree from Princeton university and a master’s degree in foreign service from georgetown university, she worked as an open-source intelligence analyst


in the private sector, specializing in counterterrorism and security issues. Previously, she served in the institute’s Project on the Middle east Peace Process and studied in Morocco and israel.

Jeffrey White is a defense fellow at The Washington institute, specializing in the military and secu-rity affairs of the Levant, iraq, and iran. Previously, he completed a thirty-four-year career with the Defense intelligence agency, serving in a wide variety of senior analytical and leadership positions, including chief of both the Middle east current intelligence division and the office for Middle east/africa Military assessments. in these capacities, he participated in operational and policy planning and wrote extensively for the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.

Tamara Cofman Wittes is a senior fellow and director of the saban Center for Middle east Policy at the Brookings institution. From november 2009 to January 2012, she served as deputy assis-tant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, coordinating u.s. policy on democracy and human rights in the region. she also oversaw the Middle east Partnership initiative and served as deputy special coordinator for Middle east transitions, helping to organize the government’s response to the arab awakening. her publications include Freedom’s Unsteady March: America’s Role in Build-ing Arab Democracy (2008).

William Wunderle currently serves in the Joint strategic Plans and Policy Directorate (J5) of the Joint staff as a Division Chief and Foreign affairs specialist with responsibility for iran and

the Levant. he was previously the senior army fellow at the RanD Corporation. he is the author of the 2008 institute publication U.S. Foreign Policy and Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge: The Need for a Common Vision.

Amos Yadlin is director of the institute for national security studies at Tel aviv university and a former Kay fellow on israeli national security at The Washington institute. Prior to his tenure at the institute, he served for more than forty years in the israel Defense Forces, most recently as director of defense intelligence and defense attaché to the united states. a former fighter pilot, he dropped the first bomb on the osirak nuclear reactor in June 1981

Michael Yaffe is a distinguished professor of strategic studies and former academic dean at national Defense university’s near east south asia Center for strategic studies. Previously, he served as a career foreign affairs officer at the state Department, focusing on Middle east regional security, arms control, and the peace process. he currently writes and lectures on u.s. policy toward the arab-israeli conflict, future security architectures, weapons of mass destruction, track-two diplomacy, and other issues.

Yvonne Yew is a fellow at the Belfer Center for science and international affairs at harvard uni-versity’s John F. Kennedy school of international government.


Omar Youssef is a minister plenipotentiary at the egyptian embassy in Washington, with respon-sibility for several key portfolios, including the Middle east peace process, regional security, arms control and disarmament, and u.s. senate relations with egypt. a member of the diplomatic corps since 1991, he has served in different capacities both in egypt and abroad, most notably as the alternate representative to the international atomic energy agency in Vienna from 2001 to 2005, where he advocated Cairo’s proposed nuclear-free zone in the Middle east.

Juan Zarate is a senior advisor at the Center for strategic and international studies and the senior national security analyst for CBs news. Previously, he served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism from 2005 to 2009, with responsi-bility for developing and implementing counterterrorism strategy and policies related to transna-tional security threats. he was also the first assistant Treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes. a former federal prosecutor, he is a visiting lecturer at his alma mater, harvard Law school. he is author of Forging Democracy (1994) and has contributed articles to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

Aaron Zelin is the Richard Borow fellow at The Washington institute, focusing on jihadist responses to the arab uprisings and north african politics. he is the founder of jihadology.net, an online analytical resource on radical islamist declarations and literature.


The Washington Institute

Board of DirectorsPresidentMartin J. gross

Chairmanhoward P. Berkowitz

ChairmenEmeritiFred s. Lafer Michael stein

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VicePresidentsBenjamin BreslauerWalter P. stern

SecretaryRichard s. abramson

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BoardMembersCharles adler, emeritusanthony BeyerRichard BorowMichael gelmanRoger hertog, emeritusshelly KassenJack KayMichael KestonMoses LibitzkyDaniel MintzZachary schreiberFred schwartzMerryl Tischgary Wexler

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Documents

Challenges For u.s. PoliCy 2012...for u.s. policymakers, who see little choice but to adapt to the region’s new realities. The syrian revolution has stalled. in 2011, dictators fell