About
Expert

Suzanne Maloney

Vice President and Director – Foreign Policy

Suzanne Maloney is the vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where her research focuses on Iran and Persian Gulf energy. Prior to being named vice president and director, she served as the deputy director of Foreign Policy for five years. At Brookings, she is a leading voice on U.S. policy toward Iran and the broader Middle East, testifying before Congress, briefing policymakers, and engaging with government, non-profit organizations and corporations. She is a frequent commentator in national and international media.

Maloney has advised both Democratic and Republican administrations on Iran policy, including as an external advisor to senior State Department officials during the Obama administration and as a member of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Policy Planning staff. Earlier in her career, she served as Middle East advisor for ExxonMobil Corporation, where she was responsible for government relations related to all corporate activities in the region.

She has authored or edited three books on Iran: “The Iranian Revolution at 40” (Brookings Institution Press, 2020), “Iran’s Political Economy since the Revolution” (Cambridge University Press, 2015), and “Iran’s Long Reach” (United States Institute of Peace, 2008). Maloney has also published numerous book chapters and articles in a variety of academic and policy journals as well as news media such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. In 2004, she directed and authored the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on US policy toward Iran, chaired by former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Maloney received a doctoral degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and studied in Tehran as part of the first academic exchanges between the United States and Iran since the 1979 revolution.

  • Areas of Expertise

    • Iran and Gulf States
    • Energy
    • Economic reform
  • Past Positions

    • Policy Planning Staff Member, U.S. Department of State (2005-2007)
    • Project Director, Task Force on U.S.-Iran Relations, Council on Foreign Relations (2003-2004)
    • Middle East Advisor, ExxonMobil Corporation (2001-2004)
    • Olin Fellow, The Brookings Institution (2000-2001)
    • Brookings Research Fellow, The Brookings Institution (1998-1999)
  • Education

    • Ph.D., The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, 2000
    • B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1990

Mentions and Appearances

<p>[On recent attacks across the Israeli-Lebanese border] Even if it’s not the worst-case scenario — a full fledged Middle Eastern war — we have a situation that’s untenable for many of the parties. [Israel is] not prepared to sit by and allow Hezbollah to shrink the borders of the country</p>

[On recent attacks across the Israeli-Lebanese border] Even if it’s not the worst-case scenario — a full fledged Middle Eastern war — we have a situation that’s untenable for many of the parties. [Israel is] not prepared to sit by and allow Hezbollah to shrink the borders of the country

<p>So even without an expanded war, Iran is unlikely to restrain its proxies from continuing to attack U.S. interests. And we are one catastrophic miscalculation away from a much larger and more dangerous conflict in the Middle East, with deepening American involvement, at a time when we are struggling even just to sustain our support to Ukraine.</p>

So even without an expanded war, Iran is unlikely to restrain its proxies from continuing to attack U.S. interests. And we are one catastrophic miscalculation away from a much larger and more dangerous conflict in the Middle East, with deepening American involvement, at a time when we are struggling even just to sustain our support to Ukraine.

<p>[Concerning potential evacuations in the Middle East] With 600,000 Americans in Israel and threats to other Americans across the region, it’s hard to think of an evacuation that might compare to this in scale, scope and complexity. The sort of advisories the State Department has put out lately have been fairly blunt.</p>

[Concerning potential evacuations in the Middle East] With 600,000 Americans in Israel and threats to other Americans across the region, it’s hard to think of an evacuation that might compare to this in scale, scope and complexity. The sort of advisories the State Department has put out lately have been fairly blunt.

<p>[The al-Ahli Hospital blast in Gaza has] derailed a much-needed opportunity to make meaningful progress on the near-term solution to the Gaza crisis. And by inflaming opinion across the Arab world, it has heightened prospects for escalation and a much more dangerous and protracted conflict in the region.</p>

[The al-Ahli Hospital blast in Gaza has] derailed a much-needed opportunity to make meaningful progress on the near-term solution to the Gaza crisis. And by inflaming opinion across the Arab world, it has heightened prospects for escalation and a much more dangerous and protracted conflict in the region.

Filter by
Date