Anne Dreazen
Anne (Annie) Dreazen, Vice President, AJC Center for a New Middle East, comes to AJC after 15 years in increasingly responsible positions in DoD, most recently as Principal Director for Middle East Policy, the top career civilian official overseeing Middle East regional policy. She’s demonstrated strong management and leadership skills and prides herself on developing and leading highly effective teams.
As we build out our Center for a New Middle East, an initiative launched by Ted in 2024 to expand and capitalize on AJC’s decades-long engagement across the Middle East and North Africa and advance Israel’s full integration in the region, we’re thrilled to have Annie at its helm. She brings a wealth of experience in national security and defense policy to this position, and deep familiarity with the priorities and principals guiding regional strategic affairs. After her distinguished career in the U.S. national security establishment, we look forward to her guidance in shaping our efforts to widen the circle of Arab-Israeli peace.
As the Pentagon’s Principal Director for Middle East Policy under Democratic and Republican administrations, Annie facilitated U.S. defense cooperation with partners including Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, and was a trusted advisor to Department of Defense senior leaders. She held a wide range of roles in the Department, including as Director for Israel, Egypt, and the Levant; Director for Iraq; Country Director for Lebanon and Iran; and Deputy Director for Cooperative Threat Reduction Policy. She also served as a National Security Fellow in the U.S. Senate. Early in her career, she spent seven months in Iraq’s Anbar Province supporting U.S. reconstruction efforts following Operation Iraqi Freedom, working on the ground alongside U.S. forces and Iraqi civil society.
Annie holds a Master’s degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins SAIS, a Master’s in War Studies from King’s College London (where she was a Fulbright Scholar), and a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Yale University. She received high civilian honors in DoD, including the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service (awarded to her three times), the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Award for support to the Ukraine Crisis, and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Support to the Global War on Terror.
