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Saban Center for Middle East Policy
 
 
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Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a center within the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution

The Brookings Institution is a Non-profit organization public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development....
 focused on the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
' involvement in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. It was founded in May 2002 and according to its website, “The Saban Center conducts original research and develops innovative programs to promote a better understanding of the policy choices facing American decision makers in the Middle East.”

center is named for Haim Saban
Haim Saban

Haim Saban is a television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of 2.8 billion USD, he is ranked by Forbes as the Forbes 400....
, an Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
i-American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 media proprietor
Media proprietor

A media proprietor is a person who controls, either through personal ownership or a dominant position in a public company, a significant part of the mass media....
.






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Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a center within the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution

The Brookings Institution is a Non-profit organization public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development....
 focused on the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
' involvement in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. It was founded in May 2002 and according to its website, “The Saban Center conducts original research and develops innovative programs to promote a better understanding of the policy choices facing American decision makers in the Middle East.”

Creation


Funding

The center is named for Haim Saban
Haim Saban

Haim Saban is a television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of 2.8 billion USD, he is ranked by Forbes as the Forbes 400....
, an Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
i-American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 media proprietor
Media proprietor

A media proprietor is a person who controls, either through personal ownership or a dominant position in a public company, a significant part of the mass media....
. Saban, according to the center and its parent organization, "made a generous initial grant and pledged additional funds to endow the Center." According to a press release from Saban's charitable foundation, Saban "donated $13 million for the establishment of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution."

Saban, according to the center, ascribed his involvement to his "abiding interest in promoting Arab-Israeli peace and preserving American interests in the Middle East" that lead him to fund the center. Saban, in an interview with the New York Times 2004 interview, said he was motivated to create the center because he had
"heard from leaders on both sides of the aisle in the United States and leaders in Europe about what [Ariel] Sharon
Ariel

Ariel is an Archangel name from the Hebrew language 'Lion of God'. Among the frequently occurring names from the 2000 U.S. Census , the masculine and feminine usages are ranked 531 and 205 respectively....
 shouldn't do. I've haven't heard one educated suggestion about what he should do."


Saban has stated of himself, “I’m a one issue guy, and my issue is Israel”, and was described by the New York Times as a “tireless cheerleader for Israel.”.

Saban, according to reports, personally recruited Martin Indyk
Martin Indyk

Martin Sean Indyk, is a British-born diplomat and Middle East expert. He was Ambassadors from the United States to Israel in 1995-1997 and 2000-2001....
, a former Clinton administration official and AIPAC's former deputy director of research, as the center's Director.

Launch

The center was launched in May 2002 "with a special address by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba....
 to a select audience of policymakers in Washington, D.C."

People

Leadership
  • Martin S. Indyk, Director
  • Kenneth M. Pollack, Director of Research
Prominent Fellows
  • Hady Amr
    Hady Amr

    Hady Amr is a policy analyst and author known for his work in the area of U.S. relations with the Muslim world and his focus on the Arab-Israeli conflict, Lebanon, Jordan, and the economic and social development of the Arab World....
    , Fellow
  • Daniel L. Byman, Senior Fellow
  • Bruce Riedel
    Bruce Riedel

    Bruce Riedel is a Senior Fellow in foreign policy at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy of the Brookings Institution, a former CIA Analyst, a counter-terrorism expert, and an author....
    , Senior Fellow
  • Stephen Grand, Fellow
  • Kristin Lord, Fellow
  • Suzanne Maloney, Senior Fellow
  • Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow
  • Michael E. O'Hanlon, Affiliated Fellow


Criticism

John Mearsheimer
John Mearsheimer

'John J. Mearsheimer' is an American professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is an international relations theorist. Known for his pioneering book on offensive realism, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, more recently Mearsheimer has attracted attention for co-authoring and publishing the article The Israel Lo...
 and Stephen Walt
Stephen Walt

Stephen Martin Walt is a professor of international relations at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 1983, he received a Doctor of Philosophy in political science from the University of California, Berkeley....
, in their 2006 deconstruction of the Israel lobby in the United States
Israel lobby in the United States

The Israel lobby in the United States is a term used to describe the loose coalition of groups and individuals who influence United States foreign policy in support of Israel and its policies....
, highlighted the creation of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and its Director Martin Indyk.

They write that the Israel lobby "dominates the think tanks which play an important role in shaping public debate as well as actual policy. The Lobby created its own think tank in 1985, when Martin Indyk helped to found WINEP
Washington Institute for Near East Policy

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is a Washington, DC-based think tank which concerns itself with U.S.-Middle East policy. It was founded in 1985 by Martin Indyk, a research director for AIPAC who would later be appointed Ambassadors from the United States to Israel....
. Although WINEP plays down its links to Israel, claiming instead to provide a 'balanced and realistic' perspective on Middle East issues, it is funded and run by individuals deeply committed to advancing Israel’s agenda." "The Lobby’s influence extends well beyond WINEP, however," according to Mearsheimer and Walt. "Over the past 25 years, pro-Israel forces have established a commanding presence" at the leading Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
 foreign policy think tanks. The result was that "[these] think tanks employ few, if any, critics of US support for Israel."

Mearsheimer and Walt then mention the Saban Center and the Brooking Institution as an example :

Mearsheimer and Walt discussing the Center's political slant state:

US government indictment


A U.S. government indictment alleges that the Center's Director of Research, Kenneth Pollack, provided information to former AIPAC employees Steve J. Rosen
Steve J. Rosen

Steven J. Rosen served for 23 years as one of the top officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee , the leading organization of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States....
 and Keith Weissman during the AIPAC espionage scandal
AIPAC espionage scandal

The Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal refers to allegations that information regarding United States-Iran relations was passed to Israel through Lawrence Franklin via staffers of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee....
.

See also

  • Haim Saban
    Haim Saban

    Haim Saban is a television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of 2.8 billion USD, he is ranked by Forbes as the Forbes 400....
  • Brookings Institution
    Brookings Institution

    The Brookings Institution is a Non-profit organization public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development....
  • Foreign policy interest group
    Foreign policy interest group

    A foreign policy interest group, according to Thomas Ambrosio, is a domestic interest group which seeks to directly or indirectly influence their government's foreign policy....


External links