Philip Morris Klutznick was a U.S. administrator who served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from January 9,1980,to January 19,1981,under President Jimmy Carter. He was a prominent leader of several Jewish organisations,including as president of the World Jewish Congress from 1977 to 1979.
Dennis B. Ross is an American diplomat and author. He has served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush,the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton,and was a special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia to the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Edward Peter Djerejian is a former United States diplomat who served in eight administrations from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton (1962–94.) He served as the United States Ambassador to Syria (1988–91) and Israel (1993–94),Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan and Deputy Press Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1985–1986),and was Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1991–1993.) He was the founding director of Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy (1994-2022) He is a senior fellow at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs,a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is on the board of trustees of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Djerejian was elected chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation's board of directors (2013–2015). Djerejian is the author of the book Danger and Opportunity:An American Ambassador's Journey Through the Middle East
Shibley Telhami is an American professor in the department of government and politics at the University of Maryland,College Park,and a nonresident senior fellow of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.
Michael Bornstein Oren is an American-Israeli diplomat,essayist,historian,novelist,and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013),former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party and a former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
David Michael Satterfield is an American diplomat and ambassador,who has served extensively in the Middle East,including the Persian Gulf area,Lebanon,and Iraq. He later served as a senior advisor on Iraq for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was director general of the Multinational Force and Observers,the peacekeeping force for the Sinai Peninsula from June 2009 until August 2017. He was chargéd'affaires to Egypt from August 2013 to January 2014 and was subsequently Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Libya. From September 2017 to June 2019 he served as the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs,and was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Turkey on June 27,2019.
Martin Sean Indyk is an American diplomat and foreign relations analyst with expertise in the Middle East. He was a distinguished fellow in International Diplomacy and later executive vice president at the Brookings Institution in Washington,D.C from 2001-2018. He took leave from the Brookings Institution to serve as the U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli–Palestinian Negotiations from 2013 to 2014. He is currently a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Rashid Ismail Khalidi is a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East and the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University. He served as editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies from 2002 until 2020,when he became co-editor with Sherene Seikaly.
Daniel "Danny" Ayalon is an Israeli diplomat,columnist and politician. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister and as a member of the Knesset. He was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2002 until 2006. Previously,he worked as senior foreign policy advisor to Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon,Ehud Barak,and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Robert Malley is an American lawyer,political scientist and specialist in conflict resolution,who was the lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Edward S. Walker Jr. is a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel,Egypt,and the UAE and is a Middle East specialist.
The Arab Peace Initiative,also known as the Saudi Initiative,is a 10 sentence proposal for an end to the Arab–Israeli conflict that was endorsed by the Arab League in 2002 at the Beirut Summit and re-endorsed at the 2007 and at the 2017 Arab League summits. The initiative offers normalisation of relations by the Arab world with Israel,in return for a full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied territories,with the possibility of comparable and mutual agreed minor swaps of the land between Israel and Palestine,a "just settlement" of the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN Resolution 194,and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Initiative was initially overshadowed by the Passover massacre,a major Palestinian attack that took place on 27 March 2002,the day before the Initiative was published.
James Braidy Steinberg is an American academic and political advisor,and former United States deputy secretary of state. He has served as the dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University since November 1,2021. Prior to his deanship,he was a professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University
Hady Amr is an American government official serving as special representative for Palestinian affairs since 22 November 2022. He was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the U.S. Department of State. The new position is a significant upgrade in relations with Palestine. He was appointed to the role under President Joe Biden on January 20,2021. He was born in Lebanon,and has close ties to the region,being praised by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders alike.
Aaron David Miller is an American Middle East analyst,author,and negotiator. He is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,focusing on U.S. foreign policy. He previously was vice president for new initiatives at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,and has been an advisor to both Republican and Democratic secretaries of state. He is a Global Affairs Analyst for CNN.
Daniel Benjamin "Dan" Shapiro is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on March 29,2011,and confirmed by the Senate on May 29. He was sworn in as ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 8,2011. Previously,he was the senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the United States National Security Council. As an Obama administration political appointee,Shapiro was ordered on January 5,2017,to resign upon the inauguration of President Donald Trump. On August 30,2021,President Joe Biden appointed Shapiro as a special liaison to Israel on Iran.
"A New Beginning" is the name of a speech delivered by United States President Barack Obama on 4 June 2009,from the Major Reception Hall at Cairo University in Egypt. Al-Azhar University co-hosted the event. The speech honors a promise Obama made during his 2008 presidential campaign to give a major address to Muslims from a Muslim capital during his first few months as president.
The Barack Obama administration's involvement in the Middle East was greatly varied between the region's various countries. Some nations,such as Libya and Syria,were the subject of offensive action at the hands of the Obama administration,while nations such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia received arms deliveries. Notable achievements of the administration include inhibiting the Iranian nuclear program,while his handling of certain situations,such as the Syrian civil war,were highly criticized.
Gina Kay Abercrombie-Winstanley(born 1957) is an American diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Malta from 2012 to 2016. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed on March 29,2012. She was sworn in on April 18,2012,and presented her credentials to George Abela,President of Malta,on May 2,2012. On April 12,2021 she was sworn in to serve as chief diversity and inclusion officer for the United States Department of State.
The Foreign Affairs Policy Board is an advisory board that provides independent advice and opinion to the Secretary of State,the Deputy Secretary of State,and the Director of Policy Planning on matters concerning U.S. foreign policy. The Board reviews and assesses global threats and opportunities,trends that implicate core national security interests,tools and capacities of the civilian foreign affairs agencies,and priorities and strategic frameworks for U.S. foreign policy. The Board meets in a plenary session several times a year at the U.S. Department of State in the Harry S. Truman Building.
