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.

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 cohosts Israel Update.

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 JournalThe Washington Post, and The New York Times.

Events
03
November 2025
Past Event
Understanding the Strategic Surprise of October 7
Featured Speaker:
Itai Brun
Moderator:
Michael Doran
Getty Images
03
November 2025
Past Event
Understanding the Strategic Surprise of October 7

Brigadier General (Res.) Itai Brun will join Senior Fellow Dr. Michael Doran to examine the strategic, organizational, and analytical factors that enabled Hamas’s October 7 surprise attack. 

Getty Images
Featured Speaker:
Itai Brun
Moderator:
Michael Doran
23
October 2025
Past Event
The US in the South Caucasus: Mapping New Strategic Opportunities 
Featured Speakers:
Ilan Berman
Luke Coffey
Steve Daines
Michael Doran
Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim
Efgan Nifti
Joel Scanlon
: President Donald Trump, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sign a joint declaration at the White House in Washington DC, on August 8, 2025. (Getty Images)
23
October 2025
Past Event
The US in the South Caucasus: Mapping New Strategic Opportunities 

A keynote address by Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), to examine the implications of the recent Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement. 

: President Donald Trump, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sign a joint declaration at the White House in Washington DC, on August 8, 2025. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Ilan Berman
Luke Coffey
Steve Daines
Michael Doran
Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim
Efgan Nifti
Joel Scanlon
28
August 2025
Past Event
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on US-Israel Relations
Featured Speaker:
Gideon Sa’ar
Moderator:
Michael Doran
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Senior Fellow Michael Doran at Hudson Institute on August 28, 2025.
28
August 2025
Past Event
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on US-Israel Relations
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Senior Fellow Michael Doran at Hudson Institute on August 28, 2025.
Featured Speaker:
Gideon Sa’ar
Moderator:
Michael Doran
19
August 2025
Past Event
Counterterrorism and US Strategy with Dr. Sebastian Gorka
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Sebastian Gorka
Michael Doran
DVIDS
19
August 2025
Past Event
Counterterrorism and US Strategy with Dr. Sebastian Gorka

Dr. Sebastian Gorka, will meet with Dr. Michael Doran to discuss the evolving global terrorist threat, the future of United States counterterrorism strategy, and how counterterrorism shapes US policy in the Middle East.

DVIDS
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Sebastian Gorka
Michael Doran
A masked demonstrator waves a flag of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah during a demonstration supporting the Palestinians in Beirut on October 20, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
A masked demonstrator waves a flag of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah during a demonstration supporting the Palestinians in Beirut on October 20, 2023. (Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
In the Media
231019-N-GF955-1104 RED SEA (Oct. 19, 2023) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19. Carney is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)
Caption
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea on October 19, 2023. (Aaron Lau via DVIDS)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
jonathan_schachter
jonathan_schachter
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Commentary
5 Min Read
An Israeli armored vehicle near the Gaza border in Sderot, Israel, on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Caption
An Israeli armored vehicle near the Gaza border in Sderot, Israel, on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
jonathan_schachter
jonathan_schachter
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
Commentary
4 Min Read