Stephen Philip Cohen (May 28, 1945 – January 25, 2017) was a scholar on

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern affairs. In 1979 he founded the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development and served as president of that institute. The Institute is based at the

Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

Life and career

Cohen was born in Quebec on May 28, 1945 to parents of Lithuanian and Romanian-Jewish descent. He obtained a bachelor's degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and later earned his Ph.D. at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in social psychology. Early on he concerned himself with problem-solving workshops between Israelis and Palestinians. He published a book on small group interaction between the two groups. He has taught at Harvard University,

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

. In the 1970s he was an intermediary between Egypt's

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

and Israel's

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...

. In this time he also organized the first meetings between

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...

and Anwar Sadat and between

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

and

Abba Eban Abba Solomon Meir Eban (; he, אבא אבן ; born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was an Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages. During his career, he served as Fo ...

with the leaders of the

National Democratic Party (Egypt) The National Democratic Party ( ar, الحزب الوطني الديمقراطي ''Al-Ḥizb Al-Waṭanī Ad-Dīmūqrāṭī'', often referred to in ar, الحزب الوطني as the ''Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy'', or the "National Party") was the ...

. Dayan and the future United Nations Secretary-General

Boutros Boutros Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (; , ar, بطرس بطرس غالي ', ; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1992 to 1996. An academic ...

encouraged him to establish the institute that would become the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development. He has developed and maintained relationships with Arab heads of states and Israeli office-holders from the Labor Party and the

Likud Party Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

. From 1990 to 2000 Cohen served on the staff of the

Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation The S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace is an American non-profit advocacy group that works with leaders and policymakers in the United States and the Middle East to help reach a just and comprehensive peace that will bring an end to the ...

, not to be confused with the above cited organization on Middle Eastern affairs. Cohen was a longtime resident of

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

, where he died at the age of 71 on January 25, 2017 from

male breast cancer Male breast cancer (MBC) is a cancer in males that originates in their breasts. Males account for less than 1% of new breast cancers with about 20,000 new cases being diagnosed worldwide every year. Its incidence rates in males vs. females are, ...

.via

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its web ...

"Stephen P. Cohen, Middle East intermediary, dies at 71; Canadian native lived in Teaneck"
''

Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.

'', January 25, 2017. Accessed January 25, 2017. "Stephen Philip Cohen, a Canadian-born academic and Jewish organizational leader who served as a confidential intermediary between Israeli and Arab leaders for three decades, died Wednesday. He was 71 and had been in poor health."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Stephen P. 1945 births 2017 deaths Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Deaths from male breast cancer Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni People from Teaneck, New Jersey Academics from Quebec McGill University alumni Canadian people of Romanian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Canadian political scientists Canadian expatriate academics in the United States