Michael Doran

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

michael_doran

At A Glance:

Michael Doran is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute. He specializes in Middle East security issues.

Research Associate
Zineb Riboua
Research Associate and Program Manager, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

Biography

Michael Doran is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute. He specializes in Middle East security issues and co-hosts the Counterbalance podcast.

In the administration of President George W. Bush, Doran served in the White House as a senior director in the National Security Council, where he was responsible for helping to devise and coordinate United States strategies on a variety of Middle East issues, including Arab-Israeli relations and US efforts to contain Iran and Syria. He also served in the Bush administration as a senior advisor in the State Department and a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Pentagon.

Born in Kokomo, Indiana, Doran went to elementary school in Carmel, outside of Indianapolis, before his family moved to Fullerton, California, where he graduated from Sunny Hills High School. He received a BA from Stanford University and an MA and PhD in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University.

Before coming to Hudson, Doran was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He has also held teaching positions at New York University, Princeton University, and the University of Central Florida. His latest book, Ike's Gamble, was published by Free Press in 2016. He appears frequently on television, and has published extensively in Foreign Affairs, the American Interest, Commentary, Mosaic, the Wall Street Journal,  the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Events
30
March 2023
Virtual Event | Online Only
The Abraham Accords: Achievements and Prospects
Featured Speakers:
Ofir Akunis
Robert Greenway
Moderator:
Michael Doran
doran event
30
March 2023
Virtual Event | Online Only
The Abraham Accords: Achievements and Prospects

Please join Hudson Institute for a discussion with Israel's Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Ofir Akunis and Executive Director of the Abraham Accords Peace Institute Robert Greenway, moderated by Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East Director Michael Doran.

doran event
Featured Speakers:
Ofir Akunis
Robert Greenway
Moderator:
Michael Doran
24
February 2023
Past Event
Peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia? A Conversation with Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov
Featured Speakers:
Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov
Luke Coffey
Moderator:
Michael Doran
armenia azerbaijan russia
24
February 2023
Past Event
Peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia? A Conversation with Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov

Michael Doran hosts a discussion on peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan with Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov, the assistant to the first vice president of Azerbaijan, and Hudson Senior Fellow Luke Coffey.

armenia azerbaijan russia
Featured Speakers:
Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov
Luke Coffey
Moderator:
Michael Doran
23
February 2023
Past Event
The Iran-Russia Alliance
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Luke Coffey
Can Kasapoğlu
Moderator:
Peter Rough
Paper planes hang in front of the Iranian Embassy during a protest against Iran's supply of drones to Russia in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 18, 2022. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
23
February 2023
Past Event
The Iran-Russia Alliance

Join Hudson for a discussion on the extent of the threat and how the United States should respond.

Paper planes hang in front of the Iranian Embassy during a protest against Iran's supply of drones to Russia in Kyiv, Ukraine, on October 18, 2022. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Luke Coffey
Can Kasapoğlu
Moderator:
Peter Rough
02
February 2023
Past Event
Judicial Reform in Israel: A Conversation with Gadi Taub
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Gadi Taub
Minister of Justice Yariv Levin. From his office in Tel Aviv, above the Azrieli Junction, the world does not look the same as it does on the Motzash at the junction itself. There is constant public pressure, he says, from all corners of the territory, to move forward with the reform. The public wants it, and the government will do it. We talked extensively about the reform and the criticism towards it.
02
February 2023
Past Event
Judicial Reform in Israel: A Conversation with Gadi Taub

Israeli historian and author Gadi Taub joins Michael Doran for a conversation on Israel's recent judicial reforms.

Minister of Justice Yariv Levin. From his office in Tel Aviv, above the Azrieli Junction, the world does not look the same as it does on the Motzash at the junction itself. There is constant public pressure, he says, from all corners of the territory, to move forward with the reform. The public wants it, and the government will do it. We talked extensively about the reform and the criticism towards it.
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Gadi Taub
Saudi Minister of State Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, CCP Politburo member Wang Yi, and Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani in Beijing, on March 10, 2023. (Luo Xiaoguang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Caption
Saudi Minister of State Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Wang Yi, and Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani in Beijing, China, on March 10, 2023. (Luo Xiaoguang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Commentary
5 Min Read
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks as part of the forty-fourth anniversary events of the Iranian Revolution in Tehran, Iran on February 8, 2023. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Caption
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks as part of the forty-fourth anniversary events of the Iranian Revolution in Tehran, Iran on February 8, 2023. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Commentary
10 Min Read
TOPSHOT - The Israeli Iron Dome missile defence system (L) intercepts rockets (R) fired by the Hamas movement towards southern Israel from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip as seen in the sky above the Gaza Strip overnight on May 14, 2021. - Israel bombarded Gaza with artillery and air strikes on Friday, May 14, in response to a new barrage of rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave, but stopped short of a ground offensive in the conflict that has now claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives. As the viole
Caption
The Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts rockets fired by Hamas in the sky above the Gaza Strip on May 14, 2021. (Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images)
Raphael BenLevi
Raphael BenLevi
Director, Churchill Program for Strategy, Statesmanship and National Security at the Argaman Institute of Tikvah Fund Israel
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Reports
13 Min Read
An Iranian long range surface to surface Qadr missile and an anti-aircraft gun are displayed in a war exhibition organized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a park in southern Tehran to mark the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war on September 23, 2021. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Caption
An Iranian long range surface to surface Qadr missile and an anti-aircraft gun are displayed in a war exhibition organized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in a park in southern Tehran to mark the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war on September 23, 2021. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Senior Fellow (Non-Resident)
Commentary
1 Min Read
missile iran saudi arabia China, Russia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus,
Caption
Missiles fire over the Caspian Sea during the Caucasus-2020 military drills between Iran, China, Russia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus, on September 23, 2020. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Senior Fellow (Non-Resident)
Commentary
Long Read