Tamara Cofman Wittes is an American writer and public figure. She is a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

. She directed the Center from March 2012 through March 2017. From November 2009 through January 2012, she was a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

. Wittes has written about U.S. foreign policy, democratic change in the Arab world and about the

Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...

. She is President Joe Biden's nominee to be an Assistant Administrator for the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

for the Middle East, after he announced her nomination on July 19, 2021.

Education

Wittes is a graduate (1987) of

East Lansing High School East Lansing High School is a public high school in the city of East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is managed by the East Lansing Public Schools district. The school is located about a mile north of the Michigan State University campus. ...

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. She received her BA (1991) from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

and her MA (1995) and PhD (2000) from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. Her dissertation mentor at Georgetown was the late Professor Christopher C. Joyner.

Career

Wittes started at the

in late 2003 and was a research fellow at the

Saban Center for Middle East Policy The Center for Middle East Policy ("CMEP", formerly the Saban Center for Middle East Policy) is a center for research within the Brookings Institution focused on the United States' involvement in the Middle East. It was founded in May 2002 . Cre ...

until 2007, when she became a senior fellow. Her book, ''Freedom's Unsteady March: America's Role in Building Arab Democracy'', was published in 2008. She has also worked at the

United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American Federal government of the United States, federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individual ...

and the

Middle East Institute The Middle East Institute (MEI) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, D.C., founded in 1946. It seeks to "increase knowledge of the Middle East among the United States citizens and promote a better understan ...

. She edited, and contributed two chapters to, a book entitled ''How Israelis and Palestinians Negotiate: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Oslo Peace Process,'' published in 2005. She joined Brookings in December 2003. She was one of the first recipients of the Rabin-Peres Peace Award, established by President Bill Clinton, administered by Tel Aviv University's Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research, and funded with the proceeds of the Nobel Prizes awarded to Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, along with Yassir Arafat, in 1994. Wittes served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs from November 2009 until January 2012. She coordinated policy on democracy and human rights for the bureau and oversaw the

Middle East Partnership Initiative The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is a United States State Department program that fosters meaningful and effective partnerships between citizens, civil society, the private sector, and governments in the Middle East and North Afri ...

(MEPI). She served as Deputy Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions and also helped establish the State Department's Middle East Transitions office. She returned to the

in March 2012, as director of the Center for Middle East Policy, where she remains a senior fellow. In September 2014, Wittes joined the board of directors of the National Democratic Institute. She is also a life member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

and a member of Women in International Security. She serves on the advisory board of the Israel Institute and of the Education for Employment Foundation. In 2019, Wittes and several colleagues co-founded the Leadership Council for Women in National Security, an organization of women and allies from across the political spectrum working to advance gender inclusion at the highest levels of the U.S. national security and foreign policy workforce.

Personal life

She is married to

Benjamin Wittes Benjamin Wittes (born November 5, 1969) is an American legal journalist and Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he is the Research Director in Public Law, and Co-Director of the Harvard Law School–Brookings ...

Selected publications

* ''How Israelis and Palestinians Negotiate: A Cross Cultural Analysis of the Oslo Peace Process'' (editor and contributor) (Washington: US Institute of Peace Press, 2005) * ''Freedom's Unsteady March: America's Role in Building Arab Democracy'' (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2008)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wittes, Tamara Cofman Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Georgetown University alumni Oberlin College alumni People from East Lansing, Michigan United States Department of State officials Brookings Institution people