Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs

Before joining NDI, she served as the director of foreign assistance at the U.S. Department of State.

Earlier in her career, from 2009 to 2012, she served as a deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs, where her portfolio included democracy and human rights in the region during the opening stages of the Arab uprising, something we'll hear and talk more about.

She also spent many years at the Brookings Institution, where she led the Center for Middle East Policy, and she's the author of a number of books.

One, How Israelis and Palestinians Negotiate, A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Oslo Peace Process.

And I think that's part of the point of the fellowship as well.

And it really remains one of the most transformative experiences that I've had throughout my career too.

And one of the things that I kind of want to transition a little bit back to one of your, among many of your really important positions, but government service, the first one, And you served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs in late 2009 to early 2012.

And it really put you in government at a extraordinarily interesting consequential period, if you want to say.

He previously served as senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council during both the first and the second Trump administrations.

and earlier as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran and Iraq in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

In those roles, he worked on Iran sanctions, on Iran-Iraqi political engagement, detainee recovery, Russian election interference, and negotiations with Turkey.

And earlier in his career, he advised members of the U.S. Senate on foreign affairs and national security legislation concerning Iran, Iraq, Syria, the caucuses in Eastern Europe.

Whether the United States gets involved in Yemen is still a matter of discussion, and Washington is continuing to assist Saudi Arabia with intelligence, said Vice Admiral John W. Miller, a retired U.S. Navy commander in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is now likely to turn to diplomacy, according to Barbara Leaf, a former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department.

Despite years of Saudi U.S. and Israeli bombing campaigns against the Houthis, no one has come up with a military solution for dealing with them, she said.

Saudi Arabia could also work with its neighbors and Iran to hammer out an ugly set of arrangements to bring the war with Iran to an end, she said.

Whether the United States gets involved in Yemen is still a matter of discussion, and Washington is continuing to assist Saudi Arabia with intelligence, said Vice Admiral John W. Miller, a retired US Navy commander in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is now likely to turn to diplomacy, according to Barbara Leaf, a former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department.

Despite years of Saudi, U.S., and Israeli bombing campaigns against the Houthis, no one has come up with a military solution for dealing with them, she said.

Saudi Arabia could also work with its neighbors and Iran to hammer out an ugly set of arrangements to bring the war with Iran to an end, she said.

Whether the United States gets involved in Yemen is still a matter of discussion, and Washington is continuing to assist Saudi Arabia with intelligence, said Vice Admiral John W. Miller, a retired U.S. Navy commander in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is now likely to turn to diplomacy, according to Barbara Leaf, a former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department.

Still, despite years of Saudi, U.S., and Israeli bombing campaigns against the Houthis, no one has come up with a military solution for dealing with them, she said.

Saudi Arabia could also work with its neighbors in Iran to hammer out an ugly set of arrangements to bring the war with Iran to an end, she said.

If the Houthis closed the Bab el-Mandeb, that would deal another economic blow, constraining another 7% of global petroleum supplies and about 12% of global trade.

There was always the worst-case scenario, that the Iranians exert control not only of the Strait of Hormuz but Bab al-Mandeb, two of the leading energy choke points in the world, said David Shanker, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during Trump's first term and is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank.

It's an enormous amount of leverage that the Iranians have in hand.

Analysts and former officials say Trump now faces a choice – devote U.S. forces and scarce air defense munitions to pushing back the Houthis or leave Saudi Arabia and its allies, a Yemeni government based in the south, to confront them alone.

Uh, well, we can join, uh, in Washington, DC now.

David Schenker, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs during Donald Trump's first term, to discuss the reaction so far, uh, to this from Washington.

Good evening.

Good evening.

If there's a new Israeli government, um, that takes, uh, a, a different approach, um, uh, uh, probably only modestly different approach, uh, to the West Bank, then, um, then perhaps, uh, there might be a different view from Europe.

So the president may just put off, uh, for a few months, um, how he's gonna, how he's gonna approach this.

David Schenker, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, uh, during Donald Trump's first term, thanks very much indeed.

Well, let's, uh, return home now and, uh, hear more about the discussions which have been taking place within the Jewish community following the announcement yesterday by Ed Miliband.