Back

Michael Makovsky, PhD

Michael Makovsky since 2013 has been President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), a leading Washington, D.C.-based policy and educational organization focused on U.S. defense and national security issues in the Middle East.

Makovsky has worked extensively on U.S.-Israel defense ties, U.S. policy toward Iran, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, the Persian Gulf, and the role of energy in U.S. national security policy, and the Eastern Mediterranean,

Previously, Makovsky served as Foreign Policy Director for the Bipartisan Policy Center, special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, advising senior Defense, and an energy market analyst for various investment firms.

Makovsky has written articles, op-eds and editorials for various publications on U.S. national security issues primarily involving the Middle East as well as energy markets.

He is also author of Churchill’s Promised Land (Yale University Press), a diplomatic-intellectual history of Winston Churchill’s complex relationship with Zionism.

Makovsky has a Ph.D. in diplomatic history from Harvard University, an MBA in finance from Columbia Business School, and a B.A. in history from the University of Chicago.

Testimony

Testimony for Hearing, “Implications of a Nuclear Agreement with Iran”
House Committee on Foreign Affairs, July 9, 2015

Testimony for Hearing, “Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East”
House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia, April 13, 2011

Publications

Conditioning U.S. Aid to Israel Would Be a Mistake
​​Joe Biden’s Plan for a Palestinian State Will Harm America and Israel
America Must Give Israel More Time To Defeat Hamas
What Israel Needs
Biden’s Iran policy needs to match post-10/7 realities
The Strategic Imperative of U.S. Military Assistance to Israel
True Allegiances Emerge
After Barbaric Israel Attack, Biden Must Get Tough and Stop Appeasing Iran
JINSA President & CEO Michael Makovsky Testifies Before Congress on Iran
If Israel Strikes Iran Over Its Nuclear Program, the U.S. Must Have Its Back
Ibn Saud, FDR, and the Future of the Jewish State
U.S. Must Expedite Delivery of KC-46A Aerial Refueling Tanker to Israel
Biden Needs a New Iran strategy: A Successful Revolution
The Arsenal of Democracy’s Stockpile in Israel
Israel is Ready to Strike Iran’s Nuclear Program if Necessary — America Must Prepare t...
Saudi Arabia’s OPEC+ decision wasn’t as simple as ‘betrayal’
How the US Can Roll Back Iran — Without Going to War
It’s Time to Make Iran Think Twice About Harming U.S. Citizens
The Biden Administration Must Crack Down on Hamas’ Disinformation Campaign
Don’t Look Now, but Biden’s Iran Policy Is Still Failing
The US Should Embrace its Role as the World’s Armory Against Aggression
Israel’s Failed US Policy
To Keep Iran from Going Nuclear — and Prevent War — America Must Work With Israel
A Better Path Forward for Handling Iran
The Senate is setting a dangerous precedent with Iron Dome funding
Memo to Progressives: Israel’s Iron Dome Saves Palestinian Lives, Too
What Biden Needs To Do To Restore U.S. Credibility After Afghan Fiasco
As the U.S. Steps Out of the Middle East, It Must Help Israel Step Up
Could Israel Replicate Its Syrian Military Strategy in Gaza?
Pledges to Restore Israel’s Defenses Must Go Beyond the Iron Dome
How Defense Secretary Austin Can Help Israel Help America
When it Comes to the Iran Nuclear Deal, What’s a Moderate Democrat to Do?
Don’t Cut or Condition US Military Aid to Israel
Israel, US Must Confront China Threat
Days of Blunder: Why U.S. Diplomacy Doesn’t Work in Iran
Shifting Israel to the Area of Responsibility (AOR) for U.S. Forces in the Middle East
Negotiations Cannot Solve America’s Iranian Nuclear Troubles
What Selling F-35 Stealth Jets to the UAE Means for Israel
How the U.S. Can Help Israel Maintain its Military Edge
F-35s to UAE Necessitates U.S. Ensure Israel’s QME
UAE-Israel Peace Presents Turkey With A Clarifying Moment
Addressing Turkish Aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean
Israel Needs Help Rebuilding Its Munitions Stockpile
Countdown to Israeli Action Against Iran
Why Israel Is the Ideal Ally for This Moment
Enhance US-Israel Cooperation Against Iranian Belligerence
Iran’s Most Dangerous Virus Is Its Lying, Oppressive Regime
Why the US Must Quit Negotiating with Iran
America Must Have a ‘Regime Collapse’ Strategic Goal for Iran
The Right Strategy For Iran Isn’t Regime Change. It’s Regime Collapse.
The US and Israel Should Agree on a Mutual Defense Pact
Israel Needs US-Made Weapons to Contain Iran’s Aggression
How Trump Should Maximize Pressure on Iran
Sen. Lindsey Graham & Michael Makovsky: US-Israel Mutual Defense Treaty Needed to Ben...
Calls To Cut Aid To Israel Detrimental To U.S. Interests
The Right Way Ahead After Trump’s Syria Mistake
Trump’s Sanctions on Iran Won’t Work Without Threat of Force
Iran’s Nuclear Clock is Ticking Once Again. Here’s How to Stop It
Iran Puts Trump to the Test
Greece: America’s New Key Strategic Partner
How the US Can Work with Israel in Syria Without Putting More Boots on the Ground
Trump Shouldn’t Pull Out of Syria Right Now – Our President First Needs a Tougher ...
Iran’s Ballistic Missile Test Shows U.S. Defense of Middle East Allies Must Change. ...
The United States Needs a Clear Strategy to Roll Back Iran
Beating Back Iranian Aggression by Supporting Israel
Preserve U.S. Interests in Syria by Backing the Kurds
Beyond Sanctions, How The U.S. Can Pressure Iran
How the U.S. Should Wish Israel a Happy 70th Birthday
It’s Time for Trump to Pull Out of the Iran Deal
Congress is Overdue to Pass the Taylor Force Act
One Way to Counter Iran’s Aggression? Change the Map of the Middle East
US Must Bolster Its Presence In MidEast As ISIS Falls
Passing the Taylor Force Act Will Mark a Vital Step in the War on Terror
Balfour at 100
The Terror-Fighting Burden on Emmanuel Macron: What President Trump Should Ask from the Fr...
The Two Faces of Qatar, a Dubious Mideast Ally
Five Ways for Trump to Put Tehran on Notice
No Deal
Columbia’s Alvaro Uribe a Paragon of Modern Leadership
Iran Needs to Take America Seriously Again
What’s the Deal with Iran?
What Rhodes Revealed
Time to Take Aim at Iranian Missiles
The Costanza Approach
The Dangerous Post-Deal World
Who Really Betrayed the Syrians?
Iranian Cheating
What Next?
Congress Must Reject Flawed Nuke Deal
Blaming Israel First
On the Consequences of the Deal
Deal Brings Iran Closer to Obtaining Nuclear Weapons Capability
‘A Perverse Consequence’
Churchill on V-E Day
Iran’s Cheating
Appeasement in Our Time
Martin Gilbert, 1936-2015
Sending a Bunker-Busting Message to Iran
The Obama Complex
The Roots of Turkish Conduct: Understanding the Evolution of Turkish Policy
‘Folly, Fatuity, and Futility’
How to Negotiate with Iran
Standing Alone
Strategic Interests in the Region Should Guide U.S. Policy in Egypt
Saudi Arabia Is a U.S. Ally, Not a Friend
U.S. Must Mandate Zero Oil Exports for Iran
Lessons from Syria for Iran
Iran’s Shrewd Move
The Economic Cost of a Nuclear Iran
Would Redrawing Map Bring Mideast peace?
Hot Debate Over Red Lines
Iran Has No ‘Right’ To Enrich Uranium
The Red Line for Iran
The Real Oil Shock
Obama’s Iran Policy Shifts to Containment
Room for Growth
Spring Trap
The Middle East’s New Energy Giant
Being Winston Churchill
Iran, Oil, and the Carter Doctrine
Stick Must Remain an Option to Stop Iran
There Will Be Oil
Over a Barrel
Iraq’s Oil Progress
The Model for McCain?
Winston Churchill’s Complex Zionist Evolution
Protecting Iraq’s Oil
Oil’s Not Well in Iraq