Zogby, James
Founder and President, Arab American Institute (Washington DC)
Dr. James J. Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute
(AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political
and policy research arm of the Arab American community. Since 1985, Dr.
Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment
in the United States. In this capacity, Dr. Zogby has also served as a
bridge between the United States, Arab American community and Arab world as
he has become one of the most prominent resources on issues relating to the
Middle East and U.S. foreign policy.
Dr. Zogby has played a direct role in facilitating the Arab-Israeli peace
process. In 1991, Zogby authored a Middle East peace proposal, which was
endorsed by the foreign ministers of Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the
Palestine Liberation Organization. In 1993, following the signing of the
Israeli-Palestinian peace accord in Washington, he was asked by Vice
President Al Gore to lead Builders for Peace, a private sector committee to
promote U.S. business investment in the West Bank and Gaza. In his capacity
as co-president of Builders, Zogby frequently traveled to the Middle East
with delegations led by Vice President Gore and late Secretary of Commerce
Ron Brown. In 1994, with former U.S. Congressman Mel Levine, his colleague
as co-president of Builders, Zogby led a U.S. delegation to the signing of
the Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Cairo. Zogby also chaired a forum on
the Palestinian economy at the Casablanca Economic Summit in 1994. Zogby
also accompanied President Clinton and his delegation for his historic trip
to Gaza in December 1998.
A lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations, and the
history of the Arab American community, Dr. Zogby appears frequently on
television and radio on matters relating to the Middle East. He has appeared
as a regular guest on all the major network news programs. He also hosts a
popular weekly call-in program, "Viewpoint," on Abu Dhabi Television. Dr.
Zogby has also testified before U.S. House and Senate committees, has been a
guest speaker on a number of occasions in the Secretary's Open Forum at the
U.S. Department of State, has presented papers at research centers across
the Arab world and has addressed the United Nations, the Arab League and
other international forums.
Zogby is an accomplished and prolific writer on the Middle East. Since 1992,
Zogby has written a weekly column on U.S. politics for the major newspapers
of the Arab world, including Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat (London/international), Arab
News (Saudi Arabia), Al-Ahram (Egypt), Al-Qabas (Kuwait), and Al-Quds
(Jerusalem). His columns and articles have also appeared in major U.S.
newspapers, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today,
and the Christian Science Monitor.
For the past three decades, Dr. Zogby has been involved with a full range of
organizations dealing with foreign policy. Zogby is an advisory board member
of Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, the American
Civil Liberties Union, and the National Immigration Forum, and is a member
of the Council on Foreign Relations.