News Release

Suzanne Maloney, Political and Economic Expert on Iran, Joins Brookings

June 27, 2007

Dr. Suzanne Maloney, an expert on Iran, the Persian Gulf States, energy, and economic reform, joined the Brookings Institution as a senior fellow, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced. Maloney will be affiliated with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. Dr. Maloney is a former member of the U.S. State Department’s Policy Planning Staff where she worked on Iran, the Persian Gulf, and broader regional issues.

At the Saban Center, Dr. Maloney’s research will focus on political and economic dynamics in Iran, as well as economic reform and energy issues in the Middle East. Maloney’s work will fall under the aegis of two Saban Center programs: the Middle East Democracy and Development Project and the Persian Gulf Initiative.

“Suzanne’s noteworthy scholarship and impressive seat of government experience significantly broadens as well as deepens the already extensive Middle East expertise at Brookings,” said Carlos Pascual, vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies. “Her professional insights will add measurably to the critical near-term policy debates as the nation seeks more effective ways to promote peace and security in that troubled region.”

Prior to joining the State Department, Maloney was the Middle East advisor at ExxonMobil Corporation. She served as project director of the Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Iran for the Council on Foreign Relations, whose report, Iran: Time for a New Approach, recommended a strategy for engaging Iran. Maloney was the recipient of an International Affairs Fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations and has previously served at Brookings as an Olin Fellow and a Brookings research fellow.

“Suzanne brings a wealth of policy experience and in-depth expertise to the work of developing new ideas for U.S. policy on the most complex and challenging issues in the Middle East,” said Martin Indyk, director of the Saban Center at Brookings. “We are delighted to have her join our team.”

Maloney is the author of a forthcoming U.S. Institute of Peace book on Iran’s relationship with the Islamic world. She received a Ph.D. and an M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Founded in 2002, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy has established itself as one of the most dynamic centers for research and analysis of U.S. policy in the Middle East in Washington. The Middle East Democracy and Development Project is directed by Saban Center Research Fellow Tamara Cofman Wittes. The project analyzes U.S. democracy promotion and promotes U.S.-Arab dialogue on issues of democratic and economic development. The Persian Gulf Initiative is led by Saban Center Director of Research Kenneth M. Pollack.

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