Press Release
from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
CAMBRIDGE, MA – The Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs announced today that Dr. Robert M. Danin, an accomplished diplomat with over 20 years of Middle East policy experience, will join the HKS community as a Senior Fellow as part of MEI’s Emirates Leadership Initiative, beginning in May 2015.
Robert M. Danin is a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to joining CFR, he headed the Jerusalem mission of the Quartet representative, Tony Blair, from April 2008 until August 2010. A former career State Department official with more than 20 years of Middle East experience, Danin previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs with responsibilities for Israeli-Palestinian issues and Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. He also served at the National Security Council for more than three years, first as Director for Israeli-Palestinian affairs and the Levant and then as acting Senior Director for Near East and North African affairs. A recipient of the State Department's Superior Honor Award, Danin served as a Middle East and Gulf specialist on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, and as a State Department senior Middle East political and military analyst.
Prior to joining the State Department, he worked as a Jerusalem-based journalist covering Israeli and Palestinian politics. He has served as a thought leader for the World Economic Forum since 2012. Danin has published widely, including in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Financial Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Atlantic, and he has been a frequent guest on a wide range of television and broadcast media, including the PBS Newshour, Charlie Rose, CNN, BBC, MSNBC, NPR, as well as Turkish, Arabic, and Israeli television and radio. He is a contributing author of Pathways to Peace: America and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Palgrave Macmillan 2012), and Iran: The Nuclear Challenge (CFR, 2012). Danin holds a BA in history from the University of California, Berkeley, an MSFS degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and a doctorate in the international relations of the Middle East from St. Antony's College, Oxford University.
“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Danin during his first visit to Harvard Kennedy School as a Senior Fellow,” said Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, and faculty chair of the Middle East Initiative. “Dr. Danin brings a unique perspective on Middle East politics and international relations, enriched by the breadth of his experiences in the United States Government and at the Council on Foreign Relations.”
The Senior Fellows Program is supported by the government of the United Arab Emirates as one of four programs within the research component of the Emirates Leadership Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School. The Senior Fellows program attracts advanced practitioners who are invited to lead study groups or give public addresses and interact with students, other fellows, faculty, and affiliates at Harvard. Their presence helps enrich on-campus program offerings regarding the Middle East and supports the broader mission of the Middle East Initiative.
As the main interface between Harvard Kennedy School and the Middle East, the Middle East Initiative is dedicated to deepening and strengthening the School's relationship with the governments, universities, and peoples of the region. In seeking solutions to public policy challenges in the Middle East, MEI facilitates programs, activities and outreach efforts which serve its key constituents: Harvard students; Harvard faculty; peoples and institutions in the region; the Harvard community and general public interested in the Middle East; and young scholars.
Contact: Sharon Wilke | Sharon_Wilke@hks.harvard.edu | +1 (617) 495-9858