Newswise — WASHINGTON (August 19, 2024) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel and Hamas today that the latest efforts for a ceasefire and hostage release deal was likely the best and possibly last chance to reach an agreement. According to the Associated Press, Blinken is currently in the Middle East, his ninth trip to the region since the conflict began. Mediators will meet again this week in Egypt to try to work on a cease-fire deal.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer academic insight, analysis and commentary on the developments in the Middle East. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialists Shannon Mitchell at [email protected] and Cate Douglass at [email protected].
Ned Lazarus, teaching associate professor of international affairs, is an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as conflict analysis and resolution, dialogue, evaluation, and peace education. A Conflict Resolution scholar, practitioner and evaluator, Lazarus has conducted evaluative studies of peacebuilding initiatives on behalf of USAID, USIP, the European Union and the US Department of State.
Barbara Slavin, lecturer in international affairs, is an expert on U.S. foreign policy and Iran. A career journalist, Slavin served as a columnist for Al-Monitor; assistant managing editor for world and national security at the Washington Times; senior diplomatic reporter for USA Today; Cairo and Beijing correspondent for The Economist and as an editor at the New York Times Week in Review. She covered such key foreign policy issues as the US-led ‘war on terrorism,’ policy toward ‘rogue’ states, the Iran-Iraq war and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Gordon Gray is the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the GW Elliott School of International Affairs. Prior to his retirement from the U.S. government after 35 years of public service, Ambassador Gray was the Deputy Commandant at the National War College. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia from 2009 until 2012, witnessing the start of the Arab Spring and directing the U.S. response in support of Tunisia’s transition. From 2008-2009, he served in Iraq as Senior Advisor to the Ambassador, focusing on governance and infrastructure in the southern provinces.
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