David Schenker
Senior Fellow and Director, Program on Arab Politics, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow and Director of the Linda and Tony Rubin Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute. From 2019-2021, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, the principal Middle East advisor to the Secretary of State and the senior U.S. government official overseeing the conduct of U.S. policy and diplomacy in the region. Previously, from 2002-2006, Mr. Schenker served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Levant country director, responsible for advising the secretary and other senior Pentagon leadership on the military and political affairs of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. He was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service in 2005.
Mr. Schenker has a BA in Politics and Middle Eastern Studies from The University of Vermont, an MA from the University of Michigan focused on modern Middle East History, and a certificate from the Center for Arabic Study Abroad at the American University of Cairo.