Jon B. Alterman holds the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy and is director of the Middle East Program at CSIS. From 1993–1997, Alterman was an award-winning teacher at Harvard University, where he received his PhD in history. Before joining CSIS in 2002, he served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the US Department of State and as a special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. He also served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel from 2009–2019. In addition to his policy work, he often teaches Middle Eastern studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the George Washington University. He is the author or coauthor of four books on the Middle East and the editor of five more.