Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, born in 1937 in Baghdad, Iraq, is an expert on Middle East politics and affairs, specializing in peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab states. For the past twenty five years, Dr. Ben-Meir has been directly involved in various Track II diplomatic negotiations and is a staunch advocate of the Arab Peace Initiative. He operates regularly as a liaison between Arab, Turkish, and Israeli officials. Also, Dr. Ben-Meir serves as senior fellow at New York University's Center for Global Affairs where he has taught courses on the Middle East and international negotiations for 18 years, and he is the Middle East Project Director at the World Policy Institute. He hosts "Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir," a series of debates and conversations with top policy-makers around the world at NYU. He also regularly holds briefings at the US State Department for international visitors.
Dr. Ben-Meir writes weekly articles, including a syndicated column in the Jerusalem Post. His articles appear in various newspapers, magazines and websites including, but not limited to: the Middle East Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Le Monde, American Chronicle, the Political Quarterly, Israel Policy Forum, Gulf Times, the Week, the Peninsula, the Jerusalem Post, the World Policy Journal, and Hurriyet. He also makes regular television and radio appearances, and has been featured on networks such as CNN, FOX, PBS, ABC, Al-Jazeera (English and Arabic), Al-Arabiya, Press TV Iran, NPR and Russia Today. He has authored seven books related to Middle East policy and is currently working on a book about the psychological dimensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Often accused of being overly optimistic in his views, notably concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict, Dr. Ben-Meir has responded, “There is enough pessimism, pain, and disdain, and I do not choose to add my voice to the chorus of doom.…..I envision a Middle East with Arabs and Jews working and living together to achieve greatness perhaps unknown in human experience. Together, they will usher in a renaissance that will spread its light from sea to sea.”