Rachel bronson, Ph. D

RACHEL BRONSON, Ph.D.

Senior Fellow and Director,

Middle East Programs

Council on Foreign Relations

58 East 68^th Street

New York, NY 10021

[phone]

[e-mail]

EDUCATION:
Ph.D. in Political Science, Columbia University (May 1997), doctoral courses in security studies, international relations, Middle East politics; M.A. in Political Science, Columbia University (May 1992); B.A. in History, University of Pennsylvania (May 1990), course work in Diplomatic History and Chemistry.

PRIMARY FIELD OF EXPERTISE:
Dr. Bronson’s areas of expertise include U.S. national security and foreign policy; she has worked extensively with issues of regional security and politics, particularly in the Middle East. She has written on issues related to U.S.-Arab state relations and U.S. policy towards the Arab/Israeli conflict. In addition to Middle Eastern topics, she has written on issues of nation building, the security implications of NATO expansion and participated in an Interagency project on non-lethal weapons.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Council on Foreign Relations. Senior Fellow and Director, Middle East Studies (4/99-Present): Dr. Bronson is researching a book “Thicker than Oil:  The United States and Saudi Arabia, a History.” The book is under contract with Oxford University Press (2005) and is funded in part by a Carnegie Corporation Scholars Award. She co-directed the joint CFR and Baker Institute report “Guiding Principles for U.S. Post-Conflict Policy in Iraq.” It was the first major report issued on post-war planning, published in January 2003. She directs the Council’s round table on “Islam and the Middle East.”
Center for Strategic and International Studies. Senior Fellow for International Security Affairs (9/97-3/99): Dr. Bronson managed the Center’s Atlantic Partnership Program, which identified opportunities for U.S.-European cooperation in the research, development and production of next-generation defense systems. She examined what the revolution in military and business affairs meant for U.S.-European relations. In addition, she managed the CSIS component of a Defense Special Weapons Agency contract assessing regional arms control and verification technology in the Pacific Rim and co-led the Strategy and Policy working group for a CSIS study on non-lethal weapons.
Harvard University. Center for Science and International Affairs. Fellow (9/94-8/96): She joined a team of scholars analyzing how domestic turmoil affects foreign policy. Her area of responsibility included the Middle East and North Africa.
Columbia University, Instructor (Summer 1995): As the instructor for Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East: Contemporary Arab Israeli Relations, Dr. Bronson developed and delivered courses on the roots of regional crises and strategies for conflict management.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
books:

• 
  Currently researching Thicker than Oil:  The United States and Saudi Arabia, a History. Under contract with Oxford University Press for publication 2005.
  

Reports

• 
  Co-Director, Guiding Principles for U.S. Post-Conflict Policy in Iraq, Council on Foreign Relations, January 2003. Report chaired by Ambassadors Edward P. Djerejian and Frank G. Wisner.
  

Testimony

• 
  “Challenges within the Muslim World,” before the President’s National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (The 9-11 Commission), July 9, 2003.
  
• 
  “Transforming Iraq’s Economy,” before Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, June 11, 2003.
  

Articles:

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  “New Directions in U.S. Foreign Policy: From Regime Change to Nation Building” Representative American Speeches (Atlanta: H.W. Wilson, 2004).
  
• 
  Reconstructing the Middle East?” The Brown Journal of World Affairs Summer/Fall 2003.
  
• 
  “More than Targets and Markets: Recasting America’s Relationship with its Arab Partners,” Middle East Policy, December 2002.
  
• 
  “When Soldiers Become Cops,” Foreign Affairs, vo.81, no.6, November/December 2002, pp.122-132.
  
• 
  “The Reluctant Mediator,” Washington Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 4, Autumn 2002, pp. 177-186.
  
• 
  “United States Policy towards the Persian Gulf: A New Focus for a New Administration,” ORBIS, March 2001.
  
• 
  “Syria: Hanging Together or Hanging Separately,” Washington Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 4, Autumn 2000, pp.91-105.
  
• 
  “NATO’s Mixed Signals in the Caucasus and Central Asia,” Survival, vol. 42, Autumn 2000, pp.129-146, with Robin Bhatty.
  
• 
  “Alliances, Preferential Trading Arrangements, and International Trade,” American Political Science Review, vol. 91, no. 1, March 1997, with Edward Mansfield.
  
• 
  “Cycles of Conflict in the Middle East,” in Michael Brown, ed., The International Dimensions of Internal Conflict (Cambridge, MIT Press, 1995).
  

Op-Eds

• 
  “The U.S.-Saudi Love Affair Predates Bush,” Los Angeles Times, Friday, July 9, 2004. Also ran as “Recall, Reagan had Riyadh to Thank,” The Daily Star, Saturday, June 19, 2004.
  
• 
  “Terror in Saudi Arabia: Does the Government have a Grip?” New York Newsday, Sunday June 6, 2004, with Rachel Abramson.
  
• 
  “Why the President should not Withdraw Troops from Iraq,” Dallas Morning News, Sunday, June 6.
  
• 
  “Talk is Cheap, a Marshall Plan Isn’t,” The Los Angeles Times, Monday, August 4, 2003.
  
• 
  “Swing from Fighting to Policing,” The International Herald Tribune, Tuesday, April 15, 2003.
  
• 
  “No Containing Iraq,” New York Newsday, Thursday, March 13, 2003.
  
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  “Countdown Iraq: A Matter of Time,” San Diego Union Tribune, Sunday, November 17, 2002.
  
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  “Questions of War and Timing,” The New York Times, Sunday, November 10, 2002.
  
• 
  “Don’t Back Saudi Arabia into a Corner,” The International Herald Tribune,” Friday, August 16, 2002.
  
• 
  “Taba on the Table,” New Jersey Star Ledger,” June, 16 2002.
  
• 
  “Law and Order in Afghanistan Give Peace a Chance,” New York Newsday, December 18, 2001, with Arthur Helton.
  
• 
  “What Game Are We Playing in Yemen?” Los Angeles Times, November 8, 2000.
  
• 
  “Think It Over: Indicting Today's Dictators Is Not a Good Idea,” International Herald Tribune, December 3, 1999.
  
• 
  “Strategic Planning: When Saddam Blinks the U.S. had Better be Ready,” Chicago Tribune, February 6, 1998.
  

On-Line Debates and Discussions

• 
  “How Does the Saudi Relationship with the Bush Family affect U.S. Foreign Policy?” Slate.com, July 6-8, with Craig Unger.
  
• 
  “Reaction to President Bush's speech on Iraq” Salon.com, May 24, 2004.
  
• 
  Have participated in a number of “Question & Answer” sessions on Washingtonpost.com and NewYorkTimes.com.
  

Letters

• 
  “A Call for Public Diplomacy,” Letter to the Editor, Washington Post, Dec. 11, 2002.
  
• 
  “Bargainer Beware,” Letter to the Editor, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2002.
  

AWARDS AND HONORS:

• 
  Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Scholar recipient (6/2003-2/2005).
  
• 
  Smith Richardson Foundation. Pre-doctoral Fellowship (9/96-5/97).
  
• 
  Harvard University, Center for Science and International Affairs. Pre-doctoral Fellow (9/94-5/96).
  
• 
  Columbia University. President’s Fellow (9/94-5/96).
  
• 
  Women’s Caucus of Political Science. Alice Paul Dissertation Award (9/95).
  
• 
  Columbia University. Fellowship for Language and Area Studies in Arabic (5/94-8/94).
  
• 
  Middlebury College. Arabic Language Fellowship (5/94-8/94).
  

CONSULTING WORK:
CENTRA. (2002-Present): Dr. Bronson provides background to CIA analysts working on issues related to the Middle East.
Center for Naval Analyses. Consultant (1/99- 1/01): She consulted on Middle Eastern security topics that concern the U.S. Navy. She co-wrote the report Mine Counter Measures in the Arabian Gulf: The Political Impact of a Higher Level of U.S. Presence (The Center for Naval Analyses, 1999) and has briefed senior Admirals on route to the Persian Gulf.
Troy Systems. Consultant (1/98- 1/00): She served as senior advisor for China Change and Challenge: A View About Ballistic Missile Defense (Troy Systems, 1998).

MEDIA
Dr. Bronson has appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs including: CNN, NBC, BBC, al-Jazeera, Voice of America–China and WCBS. She has also conducted interviews with newspapers including the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and al-Hayat. She is a consultant with NBC news.

OTHER
Dr. Bronson has traveled and presented papers throughout the Arabian Gulf, as an independent scholar, as part of the U.S. State Department’s “Speakers and Specialists Program,” and as a member of a high level bi-partisan delegation. She is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations.
SECURITY CLEARANCE: Secret; issued by DoD.