Experts
The Middle East Policy Council’s senior leadership can provide expertise and insight to a wide range of forums and media outlets to advance the Council mission of fostering public discussion of the political, economic, cultural and security issues that affect the interests of the United States in the Middle East.
Thomas Mattair
Executive Director
Dr. Mattair has taught at Kent State University, the University of Southern California, the University of California at Riverside, and Cornell University. He also served as the director of research at the Middle East Policy Council from 1992 to 1995. From 1997 until 2003 he was a research scholar at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, where he researched and wrote The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa. The book is a study that examines, among other topics, Iranian military capabilities and intentions in the Gulf. His most recent book, Global Security Watch — Iran: A Reference Handbook (Praeger Security International, 2008) is a comprehensive study of Iran's foreign relations. Choice Reviews Online calls it "a must read for policy makers, Middle East scholars and students, and those wishing to have a better understanding of the U.S.'s relationship with Iran." He has published and lectured widely in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East and serves as a consultant to governments and business firms on security and economic issues in the Gulf. He is an honors graduate of Harvard and holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a past recipient of Harvard Law School's Mark de Wolfe Howe Fellowship, the Ambassador Rodger Davies Memorial Fellowship, and fellowships from the Earhart Foundation. He is an ex officio member of the Board. Please contact mepc.press@gmail.com to inquire about media appearances.
Anne Joyce
Vice President, Editor of Middle East Policy
Ms. Joyce joined the Middle East Policy Council as an assistant editor in 1983 and has been the editor of its quarterly journal of political analysis, Middle East Policy, and director of publications since 1984. In 1993 she was promoted to vice-president of the Council and serves as an ex-officio member of the Board. In her 27 years at the Council, Ms. Joyce has supervised the production of 104 issues of the journal, as well as numerous conference proceedings and several special reports and books. Before coming to the Council, she had been an instructor at the American Language Institute of Georgetown University and at the University of Iowa. She holds master’s degrees in French literature (1966) and in linguistics (1979). Please contact mepc.press@gmail.com to inquire about media appearances.
Omar Kader
Chairman of Pal-Tech Inc.
Chairman of the Board, Middle East Policy Council
Dr. Kader is chairman of Pal-Tech, Inc., a managment consulting firm focusing on training, technical assistance and managment. He also taught at the California State College system and at Brigham Young University before moving to Washington, DC to work in Arab-American activities. He has served as executive director of the United Palestinian Appeal and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He accompanied President Clinton to Jordan and Israel for the signing of the peace treaty between the two countries. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the USC.
Mark N. Katz
Senior Fellow
Dr. Katz is Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University. He writes on Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East, transnational revolutionary movements, and other Middle East-related subjects. His articles have been published in Middle East Policy, Middle East Journal, Problems of Post-Communism, Current History, Demokratizatsiya, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Moscow Times, EurasiaNet.org, Middle East Strategy at Harvard (MESH), United Press International (UPI), and others. He earned a B.A. in international relations from the University of California at Riverside in 1976, an M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1978, and a Ph.D. in political science from M.I.T. in 1982. He has been a visiting scholar at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh (May 2001), the Hokkaido University Slavic Research Center in Sapporo, Japan (June-July 2007), the Kennan Institute in Washington, DC (January 2008), and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow (March 2010). Links to many of his publications can be found on his website: www.marknkatz.com
Karim Mezran
Senior Fellow
Dr. Mezran is the Director of the Center for American Studies in Rome and an adjunct professor of Middle East Studies at SAIS Bologna. He also teaches at John Cabot University in Rome. He was a visiting professor at the Libera Università per gli Studi Sociali in Rome in 2002 and a professional lecturer at SAIS in Washington D.C. in 2000. Professor Mezran is the author of numerous publications on the Middle East and North Africa, including: I Fratelli Musulmani nel mondo contemporaneo, with Massimo Campanini (2010); Panorama 2010 su scenari internazionali e di crisi with Nicola Pedde and Valter Cassar (2009); Arcipelago Islam, with Massimo Campanini (2007); Negotiation and Construction of National Identities (2007); Negotiating National Identity: the Case of North Africa (2002); "Between Europe and Islam: the Libyan legal system" in Legal Systems of the World. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from Johns Hopkins University-SAIS. Please contact mepc.press@gmail.com to inquire about media appearances.
Edward Gnehm
Former Ambassador, Kuwait
Former Board Member, Middle East Policy Council
Ambassador Gnehm spent 36 years with the U.S. Department of State and holds the rank of career minister, having served as assistant secretary of defense, deputy assistant secretary of state, and ambassador to Kuwait, Jordan and Australia. He holds leadership positions in several organizations including the American-Kuwaiti Alliance, the Board of American Near East Refugee Aid, the National U.S.- Arab Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Middle East Institute, the Washington Institute for International Affairs, and the American Foreign Service Association.
General Joseph P. Hoar
USMC (ret.), Former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command
Board Member, Middle East Policy Council
General Hoar was commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994. Since retirement from the Marine Corps, he has remained active in Middle East affairs and business with his consulting firm, J.P. Hoar and Associates. He was an early and vocal opponent of the Iraq War, testifying in 2002 before the Senate Armed Services Committee and writing numerous op-eds and articles on the subject. General Hoar is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and the Board of Trustees of the Center for Naval Analysis. He is a graduate of Tufts University (BA), George Washington University (MA) and the National War College.
W. Patrick Lang
U.S. Army (ret.)
Board Member, Middle East Policy Council
Colonel Lang, U.S. Army (ret.) was a career special forces and military intelligence officer who specialized in the Middle East. He served as the defense intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia, in attaché posts in Saudi Arabia and Yemen and was professor of Arabic at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Colonel Lang has published articles in Middle East Policy and participated in Middle East Policy Council conferences. He runs active blogs, "Sic Semper Tyrannis" and "The Athenaeum," which feature a vigorous exchange of articles and views on Middle East policy. Colonel Lang is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (BA) and the University of Utah (MA).
Phebe Marr
Senior Fellow, National Defense University (ret.)
Board Member, Middle East Policy Council
Dr. Marr was associate professor of Middle East history at the University of Tennessee and at California State University. She has been chair of the Near East and North Africa program at the Foreign Service Institute and has served as research analyst in the Government Relations Department of ARAMCO. Dr. Marr is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Her most recent publication is The Modern History of Iraq (forthcoming 2000). She received a Ph.D. in history and Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University.
William Rugh
Former Ambassador, United Arab Emirates
Board Member, Middle East Policy Council
Ambassador Rugh served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Syria and as ambassador to the Republic of Yemen and to the U.A.E. Ambassador Rugh is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of the American University in Cairo. He holds a Ph.D. in public law and government from Columbia University.
