About USMEP
The U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP) was founded in 1994 by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR, NYC USA) under the guidance of now President Emeritus Henry Siegman and under the Chairmanship of General (Ret.) Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Adviser. The USMEP became an independent policy institute in 2006.
Since 2016, USMEP has been led by Daniel Levy alongside Board Chair Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering. The International Board and Senior Advisors of the USMEP is comprised of eminent personalities with extensive senior government experience in the U.S., Middle East/West Asia and beyond, as well as members from the private sector.
USMEP is a not-for-profit policy institute focusing on the situation in Palestine-Israel, as well as broader dynamics and conflicts in MENA/West Asia and how those interact with the shifting terrain of global geopolitics. The USMEP offers hard-nosed, clear and insightful policy analysis and ideas. Its work strives to advance a dignified Israeli-Palestinian peace; an end to occupation, discrimination and refugeehood in which international legality is upheld; equality and mutual security, respecting the rights of all people.
The USMEP pursues its mission through a range of activities that include high-level meetings, convenings, policy advisories and publications, as well as consultations with heads of state and senior officials, civil society groups and a wide range of international agencies. We work both discreetly, off the radar screen, as well as in high-profile public settings.
USMEP maintains a broad network of contacts including collaborations with think-tanks, civil society groups and individuals associated with critical thinking on Palestine-Israel issues. This network extends beyond the U.S., Europe and the region, working with the global majority countries of the so-called Global South, and includes a number of foundations and major donors active in this arena.
USMEP has a unique collaboration with the International Crisis Group on Middle East, primarily Israel-Palestine work, including joint publications and briefings, and in 2021 co-led and co-authored a report with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace entitled “Breaking the Israel-Palestine Status Quo”.
Current President, Daniel Levy, has a personal resume of deep involvement in the region and in Palestine-Israel affairs in particular. London-based Levy has been invited to brief the UN Security Council three times between 2020 and 2022 on this issue, he serves on several boards and informally advises a number of relevant not-for-profit organizations and foundations, including work to combat antisemitism and to prevent its misappropriation in ways that silence legitimate criticism of Israel and its policies.