PERSON: Mark Dubowitz

Foundation for Defense of Democracies

CEO

Mark Dubowitz (born 11 September 1968) is a South African-born Canadian-American attorney and former venture capitalist, currently serving as CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-profit think-tank and lobbying institute part of the Israel lobby in the United States, that advocates for hawkish foreign policy. He is a proponent of sanctions against Iran and was a leading critic of the Iran nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. According to The New York Times, “Mark Dubowitz’s campaign to draw attention to what he saw as the flaws in the Iran nuclear deal has taken its place among the most consequential ever undertaken by a Washington think tank leader.”

He was a leading critic of the Iran nuclear agreement, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but then tried to save it after President Trump withdrew from the agreement according to his own account.

Dubowitz is the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He co-founded FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power and FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, and is the author or co-author of more than 20 studies on economic sanctions. He also is co-chair of the Project on U.S. Middle East Nonproliferation Strategy.

He joined the FDD in 2003 and became an authority on international terrorism and sanctions against states that sponsor terrorism such as Iran and North Korea. “I was a strange kid with an obsession with terrorism and plane hijackings. On September 11th it turned out that terrorism is not just an international problem, after it hit us at home,” he told Ynet news. In 2003 I joined a small organization (FDD) despite not having any relevant political or policy experience and coming from a wholly different background.”

Dubowitz is a lecturer and senior research fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, where he teaches and conducts research on international negotiations, sanctions, and Iran’s nuclear program.

He is currently sanctioned by the Iranian government.

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