Tabler, Trager Appointed to New Positions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 5, 2012
CONTACT: press@washingtoninstitute.org, 202-230-9550

WASHINGTON – Two long-time associates of The Washington Institute, Andrew J. Tabler and Eric Trager, have been named to new positions, the organization announced today. Tabler will become a senior fellow while Trager has been named Next Generation fellow, the position formerly held by Tabler.

“These appointments acknowledge both their past contributions and potential to advance Middle Eastern policymaking,” said Dr. Robert Satloff, executive director. “We are thrilled that they will continue to play a key role in our efforts to improve the quality of U.S. Middle East policy through ideas, research, and scholarship."

Tabler will continue his research on Syria and U.S. policy in the Levant. He has been strong voice in the debate over U.S. policy in Syria, offering critical insight into the Assad regime from his previous experience as cofounder and former editor-in-chief of Syria Today, Syria's first private-sector English-language magazine. He is also author of In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria (Lawrence Hill Books, 2011).

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with The Washington Institute's remarkable group of scholars to help the U.S. government promote America's national security interests in the Middle East,” said Tabler.

Prior to joining to the Institute, Tabler served as a consultant on U.S.-Syria relations for the International Crisis Group and as a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs, writing on Syrian, Lebanese, and Middle Eastern affairs. A frequent commentator for U.S. and international media, Tabler has published extensively on Syrian and Lebanese affairs and U.S. foreign policy.

Eric Trager, formerly the Institute’s Ira Weiner fellow, will continue his research on Egypt and U.S. policy, focusing on Egyptian opposition parties. Trager, who was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolution, has provided expert analysis on the evolving nature of the country’s political environment for numerous publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New Republic. His study on the Muslim Brotherhood's organizational structure and behavior, which was based on nearly thirty interviews with Brotherhood leaders and activists, was published in the Sept.-Oct. 2011 issue of Foreign Affairs.

“As someone who has a deep interest in preserving American interests in the Middle East, I am delighted to have an opportunity to help expand the work of The Washington Institute," said Trager.

Trager served as a research assistant at the Institute from 2005 to 2006 after graduating from Harvard University with a degree in government and language citations in Arabic and Hebrew. He then lived in Egypt as an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright fellow, where he studied at the American University in Cairo and received his MA in Arabic studies with a concentration in Islamic studies. He is currently a PhD candidate in political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

About the Washington Institute: The Washington Institute is an independent, nonpartisan research institution that advances a balanced and realistic understanding of U.S. interest in the broader Middle East. Drawing on the research of its fellows and the experience of its policy practitioners, the Institute promotes informed debate and scholarly research on U.S. policy in the region.