Expert Alert: Djerejian available to comment on Syrian crisis

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Djerejian available to comment on Syrian crisis
Djerejian is founding director of Rice University’s Baker Institute and former US ambassador to Syria

HOUSTON – (June 18, 2012) – Edward Djerejian, founding director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and former U.S. Ambassador to Syria and to Israel, is available to comment on current developments in Syria and on the United States’ Middle East policy. United Nations observers recently suspended their mission in Syria out of security concerns, and according to news reports today, Russia is sending two “amphibious assault ships” with marines to the region. President Barack Obama is also expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin while attending the G-20 summit in Mexico.

Djerejian served in the U.S. Foreign Service under eight presidents, from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton. Prior to his nomination by Clinton as U.S. ambassador to Israel, he was assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in both the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He was also the U.S. ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic from 1988 to 1991.

Djerejian was asked by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to chair the congressionally mandated bipartisan Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World. The group published its report in October 2003. Djerejian served in 2006 as senior adviser to the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel mandated by Congress to assess the situation in Iraq.

Djerejian is also the author of the book ”Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador’s Journey Through the Middle East.”

The Baker Institute has a radio and television studio available for media who want to schedule an interview with Djerejian. For more information, contact David Ruth at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

To see a previously aired interview with Djerejian, click below or go to http://youtu.be/UGWW-6dy2ME.

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Related materials:

Djerejian on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EdwardDjerejian @edwarddjerejian

Djerejian biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/edjerejian

Photo courtesy: Rice University’s Baker Institute

NY Times story: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/world/europe/russian-warships-said-to-be-going-to-naval-base-in-syria.html.

Reuters story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/18/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE85D0IS20120618.

Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston ranks among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks globally and top 30 think tanks in the United States. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute sponsors more than 20 programs that conduct research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows and Rice University scholars. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.