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
16
April 2025
Past Event
The View from Riyadh
Featured Speakers:
Bernard Haykel
Michael Doran
Getty Images
16
April 2025
Past Event
The View from Riyadh

Join Senior Fellow Michael Doran, director of Hudson’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, for an event with Bernard Haykel, a new Hudson senior fellow and a leading authority on Saudi Arabia’s political, societal, and religious landscape.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Bernard Haykel
Michael Doran
20
March 2025
Past Event
Syria: What’s Next?
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Can Kasapoğlu
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
Getty Images
20
March 2025
Past Event
Syria: What’s Next?

Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Can Kasapoğlu will discuss the evolving situation, what is next for Syria, and the future of US foreign policy in the region with Research Fellow Zineb Riboua.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Can Kasapoğlu
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
03
March 2025
Past Event
Reshaping the Middle East: A Conversation with Amjad Taha
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Amjad Taha
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: (L-R) Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani attend the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords, at the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service via Getty Images)
03
March 2025
Past Event
Reshaping the Middle East: A Conversation with Amjad Taha

Michael Doran, the director of Hudson’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, will join Amjad Taha, a UAE-based political strategist and analyst, to examine the evolving strategic landscape and the prospects for broader Arab-Israeli normalization amid shifting regional dynamics.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: (L-R) Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani attend the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords, at the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Amjad Taha
19
February 2025
Past Event
Knesset Member Amit Halevi on What Lies Ahead for Israel
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Amit Halevi
An Israeli army vehicle passes by an Israeli tractor working along the border with the Gaza Strip on January 16, 2025, in Israel. (Amir Levy via Getty Images)
19
February 2025
Past Event
Knesset Member Amit Halevi on What Lies Ahead for Israel

Michael Doran will sit down with Member of the Israeli Knesset Amit Halevi for a conversation on these issues.

An Israeli army vehicle passes by an Israeli tractor working along the border with the Gaza Strip on January 16, 2025, in Israel. (Amir Levy via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Michael Doran
Amit Halevi
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
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
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
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
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