Dr. Kenneth Katzman
Senior Middle East Analyst, the U.S. Library of Congress
As a specialist with the Congressional Research Service, Dr. Katzman serves as a senior Middle East analyst for the U.S. Congress, with special emphasis on Iran, the Gulf states, Afghanistan, and Iran-backed groups operating in the region and South Asia. He provides expert reports, briefings, and analyses to senior government officials and Members of Congress. Dr. Katzman has participated in several congressional delegations to the Middle East and testified before various Committees and Subcommittees on a dozen occasions. Prior to joining the CRS, he served as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, specializing in leadership dynamics in Iran, Iraq, and the Gulf states. Dr. Katzman’s work has been featured in various outside publications, including a book entitled “The Warriors of Islam: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard” (Westview Press, 1993). He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from New York University (1991). Dr. Katzman is speaking at this event in a personal capacity.
Anna Jacobs
Senior Political Officer, The Shaikh Group (TSG)
Anna Jacobs is a Senior Political Officer with The Shaikh Group (TSG), focusing on the Track II Dialogue for Mutual Security in the Middle East. In this role she works primarily on Gulf regional security dialogues. She is based in Doha, Qatar, where she has been living for several years. She is also a Non-Resident Fellow with the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington where she writes on foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa with a focus on regional and great power competition, Gulf states, and North Africa. Prior to this role, she worked as the senior research assistant at the Brookings Doha Center. Her work has been published with The Brookings Institution, The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, Chatham House, Al Sharq Strategic Research, and elsewhere.
Professor David Des Roches
Associate Professor, Near East South Asia Center for Security Studies; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Gulf International Forum
@DBDesRoches
David Des Roches is currently Associate Professor of at the Near East South Asia Center for Security Studies. Prior to this, he was the Defense Department director responsible for policy concerning Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Prior to this assignment, he has served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, as senior country director for Pakistan, as NATO operations director, and as deputy director for peacekeeping. His first job in government was as a special assistant for strategy and later as the international law enforcement analyst in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He graduated from the United States Military Academy and obtained advanced degrees in Arab Politics from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, in War Studies from Kings College London, and Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. He has also attended the Federal Executive Institute, the German Staff College’s Higher Officer Seminar, the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School, and the US Army Command and General Staff College.
Ambassador Patrick Theros (moderator)
Ambassador Robert Gallucci