Michael Doran

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

michael_doran

At A Glance:

Michael Doran is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute. He specializes in Middle East security issues.

Researcher
Zineb Riboua
Research Fellow and Program Manager, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

Biography

Michael Doran is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute. He specializes in Middle East security issues and co-hosts the Counterbalance podcast.

In the administration of President George W. Bush, Doran served in the White House as a senior director in the National Security Council, where he was responsible for helping to devise and coordinate United States strategies on a variety of Middle East issues, including Arab-Israeli relations and US efforts to contain Iran and Syria. He also served in the Bush administration as a senior advisor in the State Department and a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Pentagon.

Born in Kokomo, Indiana, Doran went to elementary school in Carmel, outside of Indianapolis, before his family moved to Fullerton, California, where he graduated from Sunny Hills High School. He received a BA from Stanford University and an MA and PhD in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University.

Before coming to Hudson, Doran was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He has also held teaching positions at New York University, Princeton University, and the University of Central Florida. His latest book, Ike's Gamble, was published by Free Press in 2016. He appears frequently on television, and has published extensively in Foreign Affairs, the American Interest, Commentary, Mosaic, the Wall Street Journal,  the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Events
19
August 2025
Past Event
Counterterrorism and US Strategy with Dr. Sebastian Gorka
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Sebastian Gorka
Michael Doran
DVIDS
19
August 2025
Past Event
Counterterrorism and US Strategy with Dr. Sebastian Gorka

Dr. Sebastian Gorka, will meet with Dr. Michael Doran to discuss the evolving global terrorist threat, the future of United States counterterrorism strategy, and how counterterrorism shapes US policy in the Middle East.

DVIDS
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Sebastian Gorka
Michael Doran
08
August 2025
Past Event
Assessing the Armenia-Azerbaijan Agreement
Featured Speakers:
Damjan Krnjević Mišković
Michael Doran
Zineb Riboua
Getty Images
08
August 2025
Past Event
Assessing the Armenia-Azerbaijan Agreement

Research Fellow Zineb Riboua will moderate a conversation on the potential implications of this historic accord with Senior Fellow Michael Doran and Damjan Krnjević Mišković, professor of practice at Azerbaijan’s ADA University and editor of the policy journal Baku Dialogues.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Damjan Krnjević Mišković
Michael Doran
Zineb Riboua
30
July 2025
Past Event
Gaza: Aid, Influence, and Information War
Featured Speakers:
Johnnie Moore
Michael Doran
Getty Images
30
July 2025
Past Event
Gaza: Aid, Influence, and Information War

Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and Director for the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East Michael Doran for a conversation with Reverend Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and founder of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Johnnie Moore
Michael Doran
28
July 2025
Past Event
Strategic Realignments: The Middle East After the Israel-Iran Conflict
Featured Speakers:
Dan Diker
David Wurmser
Michael Doran
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
An Israel Defense Forces jeep drives past an Israeli flag on January 9, 2025, in Metula, Israel. (Getty Images)
28
July 2025
Past Event
Strategic Realignments: The Middle East After the Israel-Iran Conflict

Experts will examine how Israel’s decision to act independently has impacted its relationship with the United States, what the war’s outcome signals for Iran’s regional ambitions, and how key players like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Syria are recalibrating in its aftermath.

An Israel Defense Forces jeep drives past an Israeli flag on January 9, 2025, in Metula, Israel. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Dan Diker
David Wurmser
Michael Doran
Moderator:
Zineb Riboua
Israeli combat engineers maneuver their armored vehicles at a staging point near the Israeli border on November 14, 2023, near Sderot, Israel. (Christopher Furlong via Getty Images)
Caption
Israeli combat engineers maneuver their armored vehicles at a staging point near the Israeli border on November 14, 2023, near Sderot, Israel. (Christopher Furlong via Getty Images)
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
jonathan_schachter
jonathan_schachter
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
zineb_riboua
zineb_riboua
Research Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Commentary
6 Min Read
 Soldiers from an Israeli artillery unit wait for orders to fire from the Israeli side of the border toward the Gaza Strip on November 6, 2023, in southern Israel. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Caption
Soldiers from an Israeli artillery unit wait for orders to fire from the Israeli side of the border toward the Gaza Strip on November 6, 2023, in southern Israel. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
jonathan_schachter
jonathan_schachter
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Commentary
5 Min Read
A masked demonstrator waves a flag of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah during a demonstration supporting the Palestinians in Beirut on October 20, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
A masked demonstrator waves a flag of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah during a demonstration supporting the Palestinians in Beirut on October 20, 2023. (Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
In the Media
231019-N-GF955-1104 RED SEA (Oct. 19, 2023) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19. Carney is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)
Caption
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea on October 19, 2023. (Aaron Lau via DVIDS)
michael_doran
michael_doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
jonathan_schachter
jonathan_schachter
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Commentary
5 Min Read
An Israeli armored vehicle near the Gaza border in Sderot, Israel, on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Caption
An Israeli armored vehicle near the Gaza border in Sderot, Israel, on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Default Expert Image
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
jonathan_schachter
jonathan_schachter
Senior Fellow, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Can Kasapoglu Hudson Institute
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
Commentary
4 Min Read