Statecraft Reimagined: Middle East Forum 2025 Policy Conference

Daniel Pipes, a historian, has led the Middle East Forum since its founding in 1994 and currently serves as chairman on the executive board. He taught at Chicago, Harvard, Pepperdine, and the U.S. Naval War College. He served in five U.S. administrations, received two presidential appointments, and testified before many congressional committees. The author of 16 books on the Middle East, Islam, and other topics, Mr. Pipes writes a column for the Washington Times and the Spectator; his work has been translated into 39 languages. DanielPipes.org contains an archive of his writings and media appearances; he tweets at @DanielPipes. He received both his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard. The Washington Post deems him “perhaps the most prominent U.S. scholar on radical Islam.” Al-Qaeda invited Mr. Pipes to convert and Edward Said called him an “Orientalist.”

Josh Hammer, author of Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West, is the senior editor-at-large of Newsweek, a syndicated columnist, and a fellow with the Edmund Burke Foundation and the Palm Beach Freedom Institute. An attorney, he is senior counsel for the Article III Project and hosts The Josh Hammer Show, a Newsweek podcast and syndicated radio program. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, the Daily Mail, National Review, the Claremont Review of Books, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the University of St. Thomas Law Journal. He is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Chicago Law School.

Melanie Phillips is a British journalist, broadcaster, and author who has championed traditional values in the culture war for more than three decades. She writes a weekly column for The Times of London and Jewish News Syndicate, broadcasts on radio and TV, and gives public presentations across the English-speaking world. Her new book is The Builder’s Stone: How Jews and Christians built the West—And Why Only They Can Save It (Wicked Son). Her first novel, The Legacy, and her personal and political memoir, Guardian Angel, appeared in 2018. Her previous books include Londonistan (2006) and The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth and Power (2010). You can follow her work at her website, www.melaniephillips.substack.com

Peter Theroux served in the U.S. government for over 20 years as an intelligence officer focusing on terrorism and was awarded the CIA’s Career Intelligence Medal on retirement. His books include: In Obscura: Adventures in the World of Intelligence; Sandstorms: Days and Nights in Arabia; Translating LA; and The Strange Disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr. He is the translator of a dozen novels from Arabic, including: Children of the Alley by Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz; the Cities of Salt trilogy by Abdelrahman Munif; and numerous works by Israeli Arab author Ala Hlehel. He is a contributor to The Tablet.

Mark D. Wallace, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, is the CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a bi-partisan advocacy group he co-founded in 2008 to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Under his leadership, UANI has grown significantly, launching numerous successful private sanctions campaigns and legislative initiatives to curb economic support for Iran’s regime until it abandons its nuclear ambitions, terrorism support, and human rights violations. Wallace has also led UANI in high-profile events, such as the annual Iran Conference, attracting global leaders and media attention, while advocating for stringent sanctions and warning companies of the risks of doing business in Iran, especially following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA.

Ambassador Khaled H. al-Yamani is a former nonresident senior with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. He served as Yemen’s foreign minister (2018–2019), deputy foreign minister (2016), and permanent representative to the U.N. (2015–2016). His diplomatic career began in 1991, with roles in Yemen’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, embassies in London and Malaysia, and as chief negotiator at the U.N. He holds an M.A. from the University of Havana and is the author of Diaries of a Diplomat in New York (2012). Al-Yamani is married with three sons.

Gregg Roman is the executive director of the Middle East Forum, previously directing the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. In 2014, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency named him one of the “ten most inspiring global Jewish leaders,” and he previously served as the political advisor to the deputy foreign minister of Israel and worked for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. A frequent speaker on Middle East affairs, Mr. Roman appears on international news channels such as Fox News, i24NEWS, Al-Jazeera, BBC World News, and Israel’s Channels 12 and 13. He studied national security and political communications at American University and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, and has contributed to the Hill, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, and the Jerusalem Post.

Saeid Golkar is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a senior advisor at United Against Nuclear Iran, and a Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum. He has held positions at Stanford University, Northwestern University, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. His research focuses on Middle Eastern politics. His first book, Captive Society (2015), received the Washington Institute Silver Medal Prize, and he is currently completing a second book on higher education in authoritarian regimes. His second book, Dictator’s Educational Dilemma: State and Political Control of Universities in Iran, is forthcoming with Rutgers University Press. He has also published extensively in leading journals and regularly contributes to major media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera.

Armin Rosen is a staff writer for Tablet Magazine, where he has been a frequent contributor since 2016. Before that he was the military and defense editor for Business Insider and an editorial fellow at The Atlantic. He has reported from across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States for a range of publications, including the New Republic, the Wall Street Journal, and the newly-founded County Highway. At Tablet he has reported first-hand on Israel Apartheid Week in South Africa, the Tree of Life shooting, Rosh Hashanah in Uman, and the post-October 7th war in Israel. He has also written definitive profiles of Ilhan Omar and Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant for the magazine.

Smith is the media columnist for Tablet Magazine and contributes regularly to a wide range of publications—the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Real Clear Investigations and the Federalist. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, including Fox News, CNN, France 24, Al Hurra, and National Public Radio. His most recent book book, The Consequences of Syria, was published in 2014. Smith has a B.A. from George Washington University and studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo and Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut.

Jonathan Spyer oversees the Forum’s content and is editor of the Middle East Quarterly. Mr. Spyer, a journalist, reports for Janes Intelligence Review, writes a column for the Jerusalem Post, and is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal and The Australian. He frequently reports from Syria and Iraq. He has a B.A. from the London School of Economics, an M.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. He is the author of two books: The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict (2010) and Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars (2017).

Ammar Abdulhamid is a Syrian-born author, activist, and dissident who fled to the U.S. in 2005 after opposing the Assad regime. A former fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, he was the first Syrian to testify before Congress against Assad. He co-founded the Tharwa Foundation, HAMSA, and I Am Syria, through which he advocates for democracy and human rights in the Middle East.

Ahed Alhendi is a senior fellow at the Center for Peace Communications. He has written for Foreign Affairs and previously worked with Advancing Human Rights and the Extremism Watch Desk at Voice of America. A former political prisoner in Syria in 2007, he lives today in the U.S. and is the founder of Syrian Youth for Justice.

Sirwan Kajjo is a journalist and researcher specializing in Kurdish politics, Islamic militancy, and Syrian affairs. He has contributed two book chapters on Syria and the Kurds, published by Indiana University Press and Cambridge University Press. His writings on Syrian and Kurdish issues have appeared in the Middle East Forum, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and other prominent think tanks and publications. Kajjo is also the author of Nothing But Soot, a novel set in Syria. He holds a BA in government and international politics from George Mason University.

David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (2019–2021). He oversaw U.S. policy across 18 countries, managed a $7 billion budget, and focused on alliances, counterterrorism, and regional conflicts. Previously, he served as the Pentagon’s Levant country director and was a longtime scholar at The Washington Institute, publishing extensively on Middle Eastern politics.

Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in Middle Eastern countries, particularly Iran and Turkey. His career includes time as a Pentagon official, with field experiences in Iran, Yemen, and Iraq, as well as engagements with the Taliban prior to 9/11. Mr. Rubin has also contributed to military education, teaching U.S. Navy and Marine units about regional conflicts and terrorism. His scholarly work includes several key publications, such as “Dancing with the Devil” and “Eternal Iran.” Rubin earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in history and a B.S. in biology from Yale University.

Ioannis-Foivos Georgakakis is director of the A6 Directorate for Middle East and North Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic. A career diplomat, he has previously served as political counsellor at the Greek Embassy in Washington, D.C., deputy head of the prime minister’s diplomatic cabinet in Athens, and in senior roles at Greece’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels. His foreign postings have included Kazakhstan, and his areas of expertise span MENA affairs, European policy, and international energy relations. He holds an MSc in international economics and finance from Paris IX–Dauphine and a degree in finance and business economics from the Athens University of Economics and Business.

Andrea joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus in 2005 and currently heads the Middle East, North Africa, and Gulf Division. Her diplomatic career includes postings as Deputy Permanent Representative in Geneva (2018–2023), Political Counsellor at the Cyprus Embassy in Washington, D.C. (2014–2018), and various roles at the Presidential Diplomatic Office and the Cyprus Question Division. She holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College (B.A.), the University of Chicago (M.A.), and earned a Ph.D. in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Nicosia in 2021.

Winfield Myers is managing editor of the Middle East Forum and director of its Campus Watch project, which reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North American universities. He has taught world history and other topics at the University of Michigan, the University of Georgia, Tulane, and Xavier University of Louisiana. He was previously managing editor of The American Enterprise magazine and CEO of Democracy Project, Inc., which he co-founded. Mr. Myers has served as senior editor and communications director at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and is principal author and editor of a college guide, Choosing the Right College (1998, 2001). He was educated at the University of Georgia, Tulane, and the University of Michigan.

Neetu Arnold is a Paulson Policy Analyst at the Manhattan Institute, where she researches K-12 and higher education issues. Prior, she was a Research Fellow at the National Association of Scholars. She has written for the Wall Street Journal, City Journal, and Tablet. Her work has been cited by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Neetu is a graduate of Cornell University.

Ian Oxnevad is the Senior Fellow for Foreign Affairs and Security Studies at the National Association of Scholars. Dr. Oxnevad investigates malign foreign influence in higher education, including from China, Qatar, Iran, and Antisemitism. His work includes: After Confucius Institutes, China and Our Children, and the The Company They Keep: Organizational and Economic Dynamics of the BDS Movement. Dr. Oxnevad is also the author of Making a Killing: States, Banks and Terrorism (McGill-Queens University Press, 2021), and is a political scientist specializing in economic warfare and terrorism.

Eric Navarro is Middle East Forum’s director of the Red Sea Security Initiative, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and a graduate of the National War College.

David Daoud is a senior fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on Lebanon and Hezbollah. He previously worked as a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, director of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), and a research analyst at FDD. David also has experience working as a staff member on Capitol Hill providing analysis on matters related to the Middle East, Israel, and Iran. David holds a JD with a concentration in International Law and the Laws of Armed Conflict from Suffolk University in Boston.

Alberto M. Fernandez is vice president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). From 2017 to 2020, he served as president of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, the U.S. government’s Arabic-language news organization. Ambassador Fernandez was a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1983 to 2015. He served in Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Guatemala,. He holds a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Arizona.

Lieutenant General Michael K. Nagata became director of Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center in 2016 after commanding Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT). A Virginia native and Georgia State University graduate, he was commissioned in 1982, joined Army Special Forces in 1984, and held key leadership roles in Special Forces and a Special Missions Unit. He later commanded the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, and served in intelligence and counterterrorism roles, including Deputy Chief at the Office of the Defense Representative to Pakistan and Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counterterrorism on the Joint Staff.

Alex Selsky is a senior adviser to the Israel Victory Project and member of the board of directors of Middle East Forum-Israel. He is currently serving as Homefront Command reserve major in the Israel Defense Forces. He is a lecturer at the School of Politics and Journalism at Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem and a reserve major at the IDF Homefront Command emergency information unit. Selsky previously served as an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spokesman of the Israeli National Economic Council, member of the board of governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel, member of the executive board of the Word Zionist Organization, and CEO of the International Israel Beytenu Movement. He holds a B.A .in Business and an Executive M.A. in Public Policy from Hebrew University. He often writes for and appears in Israeli and international media.

Sam Westrop has headed Islamist Watch since March 2017, when MEF absorbed the counter-extremism unit of Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT), where he was the research director. Before that, he ran Stand for Peace, a London-based counter-extremism organization monitoring Islamists throughout the UK.

Anna Stanley is a research associate at the Middle East Forum. Anna previously worked as an Open-Source Intelligence Analyst at the British Foreign Office and as an Intelligence Researcher and Investigation Practitioner for UK Police. She has delivered OSINT training internationally. Her writing has been featured on UK Television, The Spectator, The JC, JNS, Fathom, The Telegraph and Ynet.

Dexter Van Zile, the Middle East Forum’s Violin Family Research Fellow, serves as managing editor of Focus on Western Islamism. Prior to his current position, Van Zile worked at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis for 16 years, where he played a major role in countering misinformation broadcast into Christian churches by Palestinian Christians and refuting antisemitic propaganda broadcast by white nationalists and their allies in the U.S. His articles have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, the Boston Globe, Jewish Political Studies Review, the Algemeiner and the Jewish News Syndicate. He has authored numerous academic studies and book chapters about Christian anti-Zionism.

Dalia Ziada is an award-winning writer and political analyst and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. She is the co-founder of the Liberal Democracy Institute, and her writing regularly appears in English, Arabic, and Turkish publications around the world. She is also the author of a number of books, including her most recent, The Curious Case of the Three-Legged Wolf – Egypt: Military, Islamism, and Liberal Democracy  (Liberal Democracy Institute of Egypt, 2019). She holds an M.A. in international security from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Benjamin Baird researches Islamist activity in Washington, D.C., and state capitals across the country, organizes to counter these efforts, and educates the public, the media, and politicians on the threat posed by Islamist involvement in politics. He is a decorated U.S. Army infantry veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and holds a B.A. in Middle Eastern studies from the American Military University. Baird is a frequent contributor to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, the Daily Caller, and other prominent media outlets.

Todd Bensman is a Texas-based senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies. For nearly a decade, he led counterterrorism-related intelligence efforts for the Texas Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division. Previously, Bensman worked on staff for the Dallas Morning News, CBS, and Hearst Newspapers, covering the FBI, federal law enforcement, and serving on investigative teams. He reported extensively on national security issues after 9/11 and worked from more than 25 countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Jeffrey Breinholt, a faculty member at the National War College, spent 25 years at the Department of Justice specializing in counterterrorism. He served as the first Deputy Chief for Terrorist Financing (2003–2008) and played a key role in prosecuting material support crimes, using FISA surveillance in prosecutions, and establishing an FBI unit targeting terrorist fundraising. He previously held roles in the DOJ’s Criminal and Tax Divisions and was a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in Utah.

Jim Hanson is Chief Editor for the Middle East Forum. He previously served in U.S. Army Special Forces and conducted counterterrorism, counterinsurgency and foreign internal defense operations in more than two dozen countries. He is the author of several books including “Winning the Second Civil War - Without Firing a Shot” and “Cut Down the Black Flag - A Plan to Defeat ISIS”.