Abdel Monem Said Aly, Expert on Arab-Israeli Conflict and Arab Regional Order, Joins Saban Center at Brookings as a Visiting Fellow

The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution has appointed Dr. Abdel Monem Said Aly, an expert on the Arab world and its relations with the West, as a distinguished visiting fellow.

While in residence at the Saban Center, Said Aly will focus on U.S. policy toward Egypt and the future of this key bilateral relationship. His most recent research focuses on how the United States and its Middle East allies can alter the regional environment to foster conditions conducive to Arab-Israeli peacemaking.

“A keen understanding of Egyptian-American relations is crucial for U.S. policy in the Middle East in these troubled times,” said Ambassador Martin S. Indyk, director of the Saban Center. “Abdel Monem Said Aly is one of the most incisive and rational analysts of the Arab state system and its relationship with the West, and his works have enlightened policymakers and regional experts alike. The Saban Center is delighted to host him as a visiting scholar.”

Said Aly has been the director of al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo since 1994. He has also served as a member of the board for the al-Ahram Foundation since 1999. Prior to joining the Saban Center, he was a senior research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He is the founder of both International Alliance for Arab-Israeli Peace and the Egyptian Peace Movement, and a member of the boards of the Center of Political Studies at Cairo University and the Center for International Studies at Mansoura University. He previously served on the board of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies in Cairo and in 1987 was a visiting fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at Brookings.

A prolific author, Said Aly has written extensively about the Arab world in both English and Arabic. At the 2004 Cairo Book Fair, he was awarded the “Best Political Book” prize for The Arabs and September 11th, 2001 (Arabic). He recently co-authored a monograph, Ecopolitics: Changing the Regional Context of Arab-Israeli Peacemaking, with Israeli political analyst Shai Feldman. He is a member of the Egyptian Press Syndicate and his pieces regularly appear in al-Ahram Daily, al-Watan, al-Anba, and al-Ahram al-Arabi newspapers. He is a commentator on political affairs for ORBIT TV Cairo and Egyptian television.

Said Aly received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Political Science from Northern Illinois University and his B.A. in Political Science from Cairo University.