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James Phillips

  • Senior Research Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs

James Phillips is the Senior Research Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. He has written extensively on Middle Eastern issues and international terrorism since 1978.

Although his prime research interests are Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Persian Gulf security issues, and Middle Eastern terrorism, Phillips also has written numerous articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict, Islamic radicalism, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Turkey. He has testified numerous times before congressional committees on these issues.

Phillips wrote papers that predicted the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, the Soviet defeat there, and the dangers arising from U.S. withdrawal from engagement in that country, which contributed to the rise of the Taliban and the export of terrorism and Islamic radicalism. In 2000, he called for a comprehensive U.S. policy to support the Afghan opposition and overthrow the ultra-radical Taliban regime, rather than narrowly focusing on Osama bin Laden, who was then based in Afghanistan . Since the Sept. 11 attacks, he has written extensively on the global war against terrorism and its implications for U.S. policy in the Middle East .

Phillips has frequently been interviewed on a broad range of subjects by U.S. and foreign media, including ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, FOX News, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, Sky News, Al Arabiya, Al Hurra, BBC Television, BBC World Service Radio, National Public Radio, and the Voice of America. He also has published numerous articles in American newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Times, Newsday , New York Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, and USA Today .

Phillips is a member of the Committee on the Present Danger, a prestigious bipartisan group dedicated to winning the war on terrorism. He also is a member of the Board of Editors of Middle East Quarterly , the leading conservative journal of Middle Eastern policy studies.

Before joining Heritage in 1979, Phillips was a Research Fellow at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress and a former Joint Doctoral Research Fellow at the East-West Center . He received a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations from Brown University as well as a Master's Degree and a M.A.L.D. in International Security Studies from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Congressional Testimony: Promoting Peace? Reexamining U.S. Aid to the Palestinian Authority, Part II
Posted September 26, 2011

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All Publications by James Phillips
  • Issue Brief posted May 22, 2012 by James Phillips Iran Nuclear Talks: U.S. Should Stand Firm

    The revived nuclear talks with Iran, set to resume May 23 in Baghdad, face an uncertain and risky future. Iran has a long history of exploiting diplomatic talks on the nuclear issue as a means of forestalling international pressure, easing sanctions, and buying time for its steadily advancing nuclear program.…

  • Backgrounder posted April 9, 2012 by Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., David W. Kreutzer, Ph.D., James Phillips, Michaela Bendikova Thinking the Unthinkable: Modeling a Collapse of Saudi Oil Production

    Abstract: If an “Arab Spring” uprising completely disrupted Saudi oil production, the U.S. and the global economy would face a massive economic and strategic crisis. Russia and Iran as oil-producing states would likely exploit the crisis to increase their power around the world while…

  • Issue Brief posted March 27, 2012 by James Phillips Greater U.S. Pressure Needed to Ensure Successful Egyptian Transition

    In recent months, Egyptian–American relations have severely deteriorated due to Cairo’s politically motivated prosecution of several U.S.-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in democracy building. The fact that these civil society efforts, which were tolerated in Egypt before the fall of President Hosni Mubarak last year, now are considered criminal activities…

  • Issue Brief posted March 2, 2012 by James Phillips The Obama–Netanyahu Summit: Time to Present a Common Front Against Iran

    When President Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on March 5, the Iranian nuclear issue will dominate their agenda. The two leaders have starkly different perceptions of Iran’s evolving nuclear threat and how best to confront it. Both governments have publicly aired their differences in…

  • Issue Brief posted February 24, 2012 by James Phillips, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Syrian WMD: Counter-proliferation Contingency Planning Needed

    Syria’s embattled regime is likely to hold out for many more months but eventually could implode with many dangerous consequences for the surrounding region. One of the risks is that chemical weapons—and possibly radioactive materials from its nuclear program—could fall into the hands of terrorists. The U.S. needs a strategy…

  • Issue Brief posted February 15, 2012 by James Phillips Next Steps for U.S. in Syria Crisis

    Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, which has made war on its own citizens, has lost whatever legitimacy it once had. The United States correctly has called for Assad to step down from power. His regime has supported numerous Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Kurdish terrorist groups in attacks on Americans and…

  • WebMemo posted February 9, 2012 by James Phillips, Helle Dale U.S. Urgently Needs to Reset Its Bilateral Relationship with Egypt

    Egypt’s transitional military regime threw down a direct challenge to the Obama Administration on Monday when government prosecutors announced that 43 people, including 19 Americans, will stand trial for allegedly interfering in Egypt’s internal politics. Egyptian officials claim that they illegally funded political groups in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, while the…

  • WebMemo posted February 6, 2012 by James Phillips, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. If Israel Attacks

    Israel has signaled once again that it is weighing an attack, if all else fails, to halt Iran’s advancing nuclear weapons program as an act of anticipatory self-defense. This time, more officials in Washington and other capitals are listening. Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that Tehran will retaliate against the…

  • WebMemo posted January 19, 2012 by James Phillips Preparing for a Post-Assad Syria

    On January 10, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad defiantly threatened to crush the popular uprising against his brutal dictatorship with an “iron fist.” Syria has been engulfed in intensifying political violence that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people, most of them nonviolent protesters demanding basic human rights. Nearly…

  • WebMemo posted January 6, 2012 by Ray Walser, Ph.D., James Phillips Iran Moves West: Ahmadinejad's 2012 Latin American Visit

    On January 8, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lands in Venezuela to start a brief but highly symbolic Latin American visit. The Iranian leader aims to bolster ties with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and some of the region’s most strident anti-American leaders. For the Obama Administration, the Iranian visit reflects a continuing…

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