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
Vice President of Lombardy Region Fabrizio Sala speaks during a press conference with members of a Chinese medical team at Milan Malpensa Airport on March 18, 2020 in Ferno, Italy.
Caption
Vice President of Lombardy Region Fabrizio Sala speaks during a press conference with members of a Chinese medical team at Milan Malpensa Airport on March 18, 2020 in Ferno, Italy.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks to supporters following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's election at his Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Caption
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Commentary
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