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  • Experts

Michael Eisenstadt

  • Kahn Fellow
  • Director, Military & Security Studies Program
Also available in:
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Expertise

  • Military & Security
  • Iran
  • Iraq
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Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Eisenstadt
Download High-Resolution Portrait

Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program. A specialist in Persian Gulf and Arab-Israeli security affairs, he has published widely on irregular and conventional warfare, and nuclear weapons proliferation in the Middle East.

Prior to joining the Institute in 1989, Mr. Eisenstadt worked as a military analyst with the U.S. government.

Mr. Eisenstadt served for twenty-six years as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve before retiring in 2010. His military service included active-duty stints in Iraq with the United States Forces-Iraq headquarters (2010) and the Human Terrain System Assessment Team (2008); in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan with the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (2008-2009); at U.S. Central Command headquarters and on the Joint Staff during Operation Enduring Freedom and the planning for Operation Iraqi Freedom (2001-2002); and in Turkey and Iraq during Operation Provide Comfort (1991).

He has also served in a civilian capacity on the Multinational Force-Iraq/U.S. Embassy Baghdad Joint Campaign Plan Assessment Team (2009) and as a consultant or advisor to the congressionally mandated Iraq Study Group (2006), the Multinational Corps-Iraq Information Operations Task Force (2005-2006), and the State Department's Future of Iraq defense policy working group (2002-2003). In 1992, he took a leave of absence from the Institute to work on the U.S. Air Force Gulf War Air Power Survey.

Education

Mr. Eisenstadt earned an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and a BA in political science from SUNY Binghamton and has traveled widely in the Middle East. He speaks Arabic and Hebrew, and reads French.

Michael Eisenstadt
Michael Eisenstadt
Download High-Resolution Portrait

Contact

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

Follow

  • https://twitter.com/meisenstadt58 twitter

Featured Publications

Operating in the Gray Zone:
Countering Iran's Asymmetric Way of War
The targeted killing of IRGC Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani marked the dramatic culmination of several months of U.S. tensions
Jan 7, 2020
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
Stars: cracked earth climate change, U.S. military insignia, tankers, drone
Beyond Forever Wars and Great Power Competition:
Rethinking the U.S. Military Role in the Middle East
To meet future security challenges, the United States will need to reassess how it deters adversaries and conducts security force assistance in the region, while becoming more proficient in gray zone operations and information activities. Addressing cultural factors and trends such as climate change will require solutions outside the traditional national security toolkit.
Jun 1, 2021
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
U.S.-Israel cooperation images: in agtech, medicine, military, etc.
Asset Test 2021:
How the U.S. Can Keep Benefiting from Its Alliance with Israel
Areas for especially timely U.S.-Israel cooperation include climate resilience, agtech, and medical research, as well as longstanding work in the military and security arenas.
Feb 24, 2021
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • David Pollock
Regional Pushback, Nuclear Rollback:
A Comprehensive Strategy for an Iran in Turmoil
This past October, President Trump rolled out a new U.S. strategy toward Iran focused, in the president's words, on the
Jan 11, 2018
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
U.S. Military Engagement in the Broader Middle East
Reflecting broad foreign policy themes dating to World War I, U.S. grand strategy in the Middle East since the Cold
May 3, 2016
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  • James Jeffrey
  • Michael Eisenstadt
The Strategic Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran:
Religion, Expediency, and Soft Power in an Era of Disruptive Change
In Marine Corps University's expanded and revised 2015 edition of The Strategic Culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran, first
Nov 23, 2015
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
Defeating ISIS:
A Strategy for a Resilient Adversary and an Intractable Conflict
A new study on how Washington can overcome various military and political obstacles -- some of them self-imposed -- to improve the chances of success against ISIS.
Nov 4, 2014
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
Iran's Influence in Iraq:
Countering Tehran's Whole-of-Government Approach
Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iran has tried to establish itself as the key external power
Apr 26, 2011
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Michael Knights
  • Ahmed Ali
Deterring an Iranian Nuclear Breakout
Whether or not the P5+1 and Tehran reach a nuclear deal, deterring an Iranian breakout, most likely at clandestine sites
May 20, 2015
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
Between Not-In and All-In:
U.S. Military Options in Syria
In light of the inability of diplomacy and sanctions to staunch the Syrian bloodletting, the Obama administration is reviewing its policy alternatives in Syria. This paper, and the associated briefing, provides an overview of U.S. military options, evaluating the pros and cons of each.
May 16, 2014
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  • Chandler Atwood
  • Joshua Burgess
  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Joseph Wawro
Beyond Worst-Case Analysis:
Iran's Likely Responses to an Israeli Preventive Strike
Although an Israeli preventive strike on Iran's nuclear program would be a high-risk endeavor carrying a potential for escalation in
Jun 1, 2012
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Michael Knights
What Iran's Chemical Past Tells Us About Its Nuclear Future
Michael Eisenstadt examines the parallels between the development of Iran's chemical warfare program during the war with Iraq and its nuclear program today.
Apr 3, 2014
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  • Michael Eisenstadt

Recent Policy Analysis by Michael Eisenstadt

Brief Analysis
Do Aircraft Carriers Deter Iran?
Aug 6, 2021
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Henry Mihm
Stars: cracked earth climate change, U.S. military insignia, tankers, drone
In-Depth Reports
Beyond Forever Wars and Great Power Competition:
Rethinking the U.S. Military Role in the Middle East
Jun 1, 2021
◆
  • Michael Eisenstadt
Brief Analysis
An Expanded Agenda for U.S.-Israel Partnership: New Technologies, New Opportunities
May 7, 2021
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • Henry "Trey" Obering III
  • Samantha Ravich
  • David Pollock
Kokuka Courageous tanker, Gulf of Oman
In-Depth Reports
Deterring Iran in the Gray Zone
Insights from Four Decades of Conflict
Apr 14, 2021
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
Articles & Testimony
Iran’s Gray Zone Strategy: Cornerstone of Its Asymmetric Way of War
Mar 19, 2021
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  • Michael Eisenstadt
U.S.-Israel cooperation images: in agtech, medicine, military, etc.
In-Depth Reports
Asset Test 2021:
How the U.S. Can Keep Benefiting from Its Alliance with Israel
Feb 24, 2021
◆
  • Michael Eisenstadt
  • David Pollock
All Policy Analysis by Michael Eisenstadt
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