David Schenker

David Kenneth Schenker (born 1968) is an American diplomat who worked in the Department of Defense during the George W. Bush administration, and was nominated on April 9, 2018, to head the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the State Department. The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs deals with U.S. foreign policy and U.S. diplomatic relations with Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.[1][2]

David Schenker
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Assumed office
June 14, 2019
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byDavid Satterfield (acting)
In office
2002–2006
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Personal details
Born1968 (age 5253)
New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDiplomat

Early life

Schenker was born in 1968 to mother Linda and father Michael Schenker, both Jewish. He grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, graduating from Ridgewood High School in 1986. Schenker earned a B.A. at the University of Vermont in 1990, then an M.A. at the University of Michigan and Certificate, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), at the American University in Cairo.[1]

Schenker has spent most of his career at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, starting as an analyst after graduate school.

In 2002, Schenker temporarily left the Washington Institute to be Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine) country director in the Bush Defense Department under Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Schenker returned to the Washington Institute in 2006 and has been there since. At the time of his nomination to the State Department, Schenker was director of the institute's Program on Arab Politics.[3]

Schenker is a prolific writer, often on Hezbollah in Lebanon and about Syria. He has written two books, Dancing with Saddam: The Strategic Tango of Jordanian–Iraqi Relations (2003) and Palestinian Democracy and Governance: An Appraisal of the Legislative Council (2000).[4]

References

Government offices
Preceded by
David Satterfield (acting)
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
June 14, 2019 – present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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