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Andrew J. Tabler

  • Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow
  • Director, Junior Research Program
Also available in:
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  • Farsi
Andrew J. Tabler
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Andrew J. Tabler is the Martin J. Gross Senior Fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, where he focuses on Syria, the Levant, and U.S. Middle East Policy, and Director of the Institute's Junior Research Program.

Mr. Tabler served as senior advisor to the Special Envoy for Syria Engagement at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (2020-2021) and director for Syria at the National Security Council's Middle East Affairs Directorate (2019) during the final days of the ISIS caliphate and the rigorous debate over the U.S. troop presence in Syria.

Before joining the Institute in 2008, Mr. Tabler lived, worked, and studied extensively in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey. During fourteen years of residence in the Middle East, he served as co-founder and editor-in-chief of Syria Today, Syria's first private-sector English-language magazine; as a consultant on U.S.-Syria relations for the International Crisis Group (2008); and as a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs (2005-2007), writing on Syrian, Lebanese, and Middle Eastern affairs.

Following his graduate work in Cairo, Egypt, Mr. Tabler held editorships with the Middle East Times and Cairo Times, where he focused on Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, before becoming senior editor and director of editorial for the Oxford Business Group (OBG).

Mr. Tabler’s articles and opinion pieces on Middle East affairs and U.S. foreign policy have appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs. He has also appeared frequently in interviews with CNN, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, and the BBC. He is author of In the Lion's Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle with Syria (Lawrence Hill Books).

Education

M.A., comparative politics, American University in Cairo (AUC); Certificate, Arabic Language Institute, AUC; B.A., Washington & Jefferson College

Andrew J. Tabler
Download High-Resolution Portrait

Contact

(202) 230-9550 (media inquiries only)
(202) 452-0650 (other inquiries)
press@washingtoninstitute.org

Follow

  • https://twitter.com/Andrewtabler twitter

Featured Publications

Lightbulb nighttime Beirut cityscape
Power to the People?
Scrutinizing the U.S.-Arab Effort to Supply Energy to Lebanon via Syria
Residents of the beleaguered country desperately need electricity, but a U.S.-Arab scheme carries complications that could benefit Syria's Assad regime.
Dec 16, 2021
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  • Katherine Bauer
  • Ben Fishman
  • Hanin Ghaddar
  • Simon Henderson
  • David Schenker
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Rouhani, Putin, Erdogan
Triangular Diplomacy:
Unpacking Russia's Syria Strategy
Moscow has repeatedly played actors off each other to secure its own interests and keep the Assad regime in power.
Jul 7, 2021
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
  • Andrew J. Tabler
The Narrowing Field of Syria's Opposition
Six years after the outbreak of Syria's civil war, the parties involved, whether aligned with the Assad regime, the Sunni
Apr 11, 2017
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  • James Bowker
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Eyeing Raqqa
A Tale of Four Tribes
For the past three years, the Islamic State has held Raqqa, the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate. But lately, both
Mar 21, 2017
◆
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Maps & Graphics
The Lines That Bind: 100 Years of Sykes-Picot
A century after diplomats Mark Sykes of Britain and François Georges-Picot of France drew up a secret agreement to divide
Dec 19, 2016
◆
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Maps & Graphics
Syrian Kurds as a U.S. Ally:
Cooperation and Complications
This collection of essays by Washington Institute experts explores how the United States can work with--or, in some cases, around--the
Nov 18, 2016
◆
  • Patrick Clawson
  • David Pollock
  • Soner Cagaptay
  • Andrew J. Tabler
  • Fabrice Balanche
  • Bilal Wahab
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
In the Lion’s Den:
An Eyewitness Account of Washington’s Battle with Syria
A key player and an unrelenting obstacle in the Middle East peace process, Syria has long been a thorn in
Aug 12, 2011
◆
  • Andrew J. Tabler
No Good Outcome:
How Israel Could Be Drawn into the Syrian Conflict
Given the complexities and dynamics of the Syrian conflict, it is distinctly possible that Israel could be drawn into the
Nov 26, 2013
◆
  • Patrick Clawson
  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Matthew Levitt
  • David Schenker
  • Andrew J. Tabler
  • Jeffrey White
  • Aaron Y. Zelin

Recent Policy Analysis by Andrew J. Tabler

Brief Analysis
Iran’s Tensions with Azerbaijan Point to Broader Shifts in the South Caucasus
Mar 31, 2023
◆
  • Anna Borshchevskaya
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Post earthquake recover efforts in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, in February 2023 - source: Reuters
Brief Analysis
Earthquake in Syria and Turkey: U.S. Policy Implications
Feb 17, 2023
◆
  • Can Selcuki
  • Amany Qaddour
  • Soner Cagaptay
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Brief Analysis
Helping Syrian Earthquake Victims, Not Assad
Feb 16, 2023
◆
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Video preview image of a Lebanese child drinking water
The Symptom and the Disease: Cholera and State Collapse in Syria and Lebanon
Jan 31, 2023
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  • Hanin Ghaddar
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Erdogan and Putin
Brief Analysis
Russia’s Yes Vote on Syria Aid Will Come With a Price
Jan 11, 2023
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  • Anna Borshchevskaya
  • Andrew J. Tabler
Brief Analysis
To Ease Syria’s Energy Crisis, Assad Must Return to the Negotiating Table
Dec 22, 2022
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  • Andrew J. Tabler
  • Erik Yavorsky
All Policy Analysis by Andrew J. Tabler
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