home > the cfr think tank > experts > steven simon
Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-202-509-8437
E-mail: ssimon@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 466K)
One-page bio (PDF, 57K)
Award-winning coauthor of The Age of Sacred Terror and The Next Attack. Former director for global issues and senior director for transnational threats at the National Security Council. Current work examines the consequences of the American intervention in Iraq, Muslim/non-Muslim relations, and the role of religion in U.S. foreign policy.
Expertise:U.S. security policy in the Middle East and South Asia; Middle East politics; Palestinian-Israeli relations; transatlantic approaches to Islamic activism; terrorism and counterterrorism; intelligence reform.
Experience:Senior Analyst, Middle East and Terrorism, Rand (2003 - 2006); Adjunct Professor of Middle East Security Studies, Georgetown University (2005 - present); Deputy Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Carol Dean Senior Fellow in U.S. Security Studies, International Institute for Strategic Studies (1999 - 2003); Director for Global Issues and Senior Director for Transnational Threats, National Security Council (1994 - 1999).
Selected Publications:In Their Own Words (Washington Post Book World, October 2007); After the Surge: The Case for U.S. Military Disengagement from Iraq (Council on Foreign Relations, 2007) The Next Attack (Henry Holt, 2005); Building a Successful Palestinian State (coauthor, Rand Corporation, 2005); The Arc: A Formal Structure for a Palestinian State (coauthor, Rand Corporation, 2005); Iraq at the Crossroads: State and Society in the Shadow of Regime Change (coeditor, Oxford University Press/IISS 2003); The Age of Sacred Terror (Random House, 2002).
Current Research Projects
Past Research Project
February 2, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Steven Simon reviews Patrick Tyler's new book "A World of Trouble:The White House and the Middle East -- From the Cold War to the War on Terror" for the Washington Post.
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 8, 2008
Transcript
A discussion of how to proceed in Iraq, and what the following steps within that country should be.
See more in Iraq, Democracy and Human Rights, Economics, Society and Culture, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 8, 2008
Video
With violence down and U.S. troop deaths at their lowest point since the Iraq war began, military analysts are in near-agreement that Iraq is more secure today. But CFR's Stephen Biddle and Steven Simon disagree on how to ensure stability continues. They discuss their views during this inaugural Foreign Affairs Live debate.
See more in Iraq, Defense Strategy, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 8, 2008
Audio
With violence down and U.S. troop deaths at their lowest point since the Iraq war began, military analysts are in near-agreement that Iraq is more secure today. But CFR's Stephen Biddle and Steven Simon disagree on how to ensure stability continues. They discuss their views during this inaugural Foreign Affairs Live debate.
See more in Iraq, National Security and Defense, Conflict Assessment
July 15, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
The events of the past eight years have brought the Middle East to a precipice, write Richard Clarke, Steve Simon, and Ray Takeyh. To deal with this situation, America will need a president of intellectual independence, strategic flexibility and considerable political imagination.
See more in Middle East, International Peace and Security
Updated: May 9, 2008
Online Debate
Two CFR experts on the war, Max Boot, senior fellow for national security studies, and Steven Simon, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies, debate whether the surge has put Iraq on the path to success.
See more in Iraq, Defense/Homeland Security, Wars and Warfare
April 23, 2008
Transcript
See more in United States, Europe/Russia, Middle East
April 23, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the U.S. and European approaches to dealing with challenges in the broader Middle East.
This symposium was made possible by the generosity of the European Commission and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
See more in United States, Europe/Russia, Middle East
May/June 2008
Podcast
This audio includes readings of selected articles from the May/June 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs.
See more in United States
April 16, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Washington must return to the kind of diplomacy that Bush has largely neglected, argues Steven Simon.
See more in United States, Iraq
May/June 2008
Podcast
From the May/June 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs: Recent short-term gains in Iraq have come at the expense of the long-term goal of a stable, unitary Iraq.
See more in Iraq, Defense Strategy
May/June 2008
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
The Bush administration's new strategy in Iraq has produced short-term gains at the expense of the long-term goal of a stable, unitary Iraq.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Nation Building
January 1, 2008
Article
Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson write that "the history of the Vietnam War teaches that to preserve American strength and prestige, we must begin withdrawing from Iraq now."
See more in Vietnam, Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Foreign Policy History
November 28, 2007
News Briefing
CFR experts offer their analysis of the proceedings at the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority, Diplomacy
November 27, 2007
Op-Ed
Star-Tribune
Steve Andreasen and Steven Simon write that voters should consider which candidate will advocate the need for a deeper economic and political commitment to the region, in the Star-Tribune.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Foreign Policy History
November 12, 2007
Transcript
Panel discussion of Muslim life in America with CFR Senior Fellow Steven Simon as Presider.
See more in United States, Ethnicity and National Identity, Religion
November 12, 2007
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the experience of Muslim communities in the United States, including the relative integration of immigrant Muslim populations in America as compared to those in Europe.
See more in United States, Religion
September 8, 2007
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Election 2008
July 25, 2007
Op-Ed
American Prospect
See more in Ireland, Iraq, Ethnicity and National Identity, Society and Culture, Terrorism
July 24, 2007
Op-Ed
New York Times
See more in Pakistan, Iraq, Counterterrorism
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba’s unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
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Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
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