U.S. Middle East politics  - insights of a former Foreign Affairs Officer

by

Dr. Annelle Sheline

18. Feb 2026, 5 pm (CET)

virtual event - ZOOM only

please register at: https://tinyurl.com/S4PseminarFeb2026

see also: https://tinyurl.com/S4P-Feb-2026

Abstract:

Annelle Sheline will talk about the agenda of the U.S. foreign politics in the Middle East based on her  experience as a foreign affairs officer at the U.S. State Department’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. She will share with us her reasons for leaving the U.S. State Department and present her views on what has changed since the new administration was sworn in in January 2025 and what to expect with regard to ongoing Israeli violations of cease-fire agreements in Gaza and Lebanon and the increasing military repression in the Westbank and East Jerusalem.

Dr. Annelle Sheline is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC, and a Research Fellow for the Middle East at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. She previously served as a Foreign Affairs Officer at the US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor’s Office of Near Eastern Affairs (DRL/NEA), before resigning in March 2024 in protest over the Biden administration’s unconditional support for Israeli military operations in Gaza. She is completing a book manuscript on religious authority in the Middle East, and teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. She completed her PhD in political science at George Washington University.