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
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
30
July 2024
Past Event
A Conversation on US-Azerbaijan Relations with Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov
Featured Speakers:
Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov
Luke Coffey
Michael Doran
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on May 10, 2024, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Photo by Azerbaijani ForeignMinistry/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
30
July 2024
Past Event
A Conversation on US-Azerbaijan Relations with Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov

Hudson Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Luke Coffey host Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on May 10, 2024, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Photo by Azerbaijani ForeignMinistry/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov
Luke Coffey
Michael Doran
09
July 2024
Past Event
The Iran Threat to US-NATO Security
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Congressman Ted Deutch
Moderator:
Peter Rough
An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member carrying a Palestinian flag in downtown Tehran on April 29, 2022. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
09
July 2024
Past Event
The Iran Threat to US-NATO Security

Former Congressman Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, will join Hudson to discuss what NATO militaries can learn from Israel’s fight against Iran-backed militias, the implications of a nuclear Iran for Europe, Tehran’s role in the rise of antisemitism in the West, and why aiding Israel is an important step to dismantle the China–Russia–Iran–North Korea axis.

An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member carrying a Palestinian flag in downtown Tehran on April 29, 2022. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Congressman Ted Deutch
Moderator:
Peter Rough
20
June 2024
Past Event
The Agendas of Jew Hatred
Featured Speakers:
Daniel Schwammenthal
Ilan Berman
Paul Caresse
Liel Leibovitz
Moderator:
Michael Doran
Pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside the Fordham University Lincoln Center on May 1, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
20
June 2024
Past Event
The Agendas of Jew Hatred

What are the hidden agendas of antisemites and anti-Zionists? What are the implications of this agenda for national security? And what is to be done?

Pro-Palestinian protesters rally outside the Fordham University Lincoln Center on May 1, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Daniel Schwammenthal
Ilan Berman
Paul Caresse
Liel Leibovitz
Moderator:
Michael Doran
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
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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)
Default Expert Image
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
Commentary
1 Min Read