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.

Researcher
Zineb Riboua
Research Fellow 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
01
November 2024
Past Event
What the US Election Means for the Middle East
Featured Speakers:
Gabriel Scheinmann
Michael Doran
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
The flag of the United States is projected on the wall of Jerusalem's Old City on December 6, 2017, in Jerusalem, Israel. (Lior Mizrahi via Getty Images)
01
November 2024
Past Event
What the US Election Means for the Middle East

For a discussion of these questions, join Research Fellow Zineb Riboua, Senior Fellow Michael Doran, and Executive Director of the Alexander Hamilton Society Gabriel Scheinmann.

The flag of the United States is projected on the wall of Jerusalem's Old City on December 6, 2017, in Jerusalem, Israel. (Lior Mizrahi via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Gabriel Scheinmann
Michael Doran
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
11
October 2024
Past Event
Israel’s Economy after One Year of War
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Noach Hacker
Recovered motorcycles used by members of Hamas during the October 7 attacks are seen on October 6, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel.  (Leon Neal via Getty Images)
11
October 2024
Past Event
Israel’s Economy after One Year of War

Join Hudson’s Michael Doran for a discussion with Noach Hacker, the Israeli minister of economic affairs to the United States, on Israel’s economy since October 7, the status of the US-Israel relationship, and the challenges ahead.

Recovered motorcycles used by members of Hamas during the October 7 attacks are seen on October 6, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel.  (Leon Neal via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Noach Hacker
04
October 2024
Past Event
October 7 One Year Later
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Zineb Riboua
A damaged building near the border of Gaza and Israel on October 22, 2023, in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attack on October 7. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
04
October 2024
Past Event
October 7 One Year Later

Join Zineb Riboua and Michael Doran of Hudson’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East for a discussion on these questions.

A damaged building near the border of Gaza and Israel on October 22, 2023, in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attack on October 7. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Zineb Riboua
01
August 2024
Past Event
Iran and Hezbollah vs. Israel: Full-Scale War?
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Peter Rough
Smoke ascends after an Israeli air raid on the town of Shamaa (Chamaa) in southern Lebanon on August 1, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. Israel's Prime Minister said on August 1, that Israel was prepared for any "aggression" against it following threats of retaliation for the killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures. (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP) (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU/AFP via Getty Images)
01
August 2024
Past Event
Iran and Hezbollah vs. Israel: Full-Scale War?

On the evening of August 1, Hezbollah launched a massive rocket barrage at Israel. Is this the beginning of an all-out war between Israel and an axis comprising Iran and Hezbollah?

Smoke ascends after an Israeli air raid on the town of Shamaa (Chamaa) in southern Lebanon on August 1, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. Israel's Prime Minister said on August 1, that Israel was prepared for any "aggression" against it following threats of retaliation for the killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah figures. (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU / AFP) (Photo by KAWNAT HAJU/AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Peter Rough
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 (Nonresident)
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 (Nonresident)
Commentary
Long Read
Bushehr-nuclear-power-plant
Caption
A picture taken on November 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start works on a second reactor at the facility. Bushehr is Iran's only nuclear power station and is currently running on imported fuel from Russia that is closely monitored by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
In the Media