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Jonathan M. Winer has been the United States Special Envoy for Libya, the deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement, and counsel to United States Senator John Kerry. He has written and lectured widely on US Middle East policy, counter-terrorism, international money laundering, illicit networks, corruption, and US-Russia issues.

In 2016, Winer received the highest award granted by the Secretary of State, for “extraordinary service to the US government” in avoiding the massacre of over 3,000 members of an Iranian dissident group in Iraq, and for leading US policy in Libya “from a major foreign policy embarrassment to a fragile but democratic, internationally recognized government.” In 1999, he received the Department’s second highest award, for having “created the capacity of the Department and the US government to deal with international crime and criminal justice as important foreign policy functions.” The award stated that “the scope and significance of his achievements are virtually unprecedented for any single official.”

Education:
BA from Yale University, 1976; JD from New York University School of Law, 1981

Countries of Expertise:
Libya, North Africa

Issues of Expertise:
US Foreign Policy, Counter-terrorism, Governance, Economics and Energy, Migration

The Latest from Jonathan M. Winer

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Expert Views: The Biden administration and the Middle East: Reflecting on the first 100 days
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Expert Views: The Biden administration and the Middle East: Reflecting on the first 100 days

    At the end of Joe Biden’s first 100 days as president of the United States, where do things stand when it comes to U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa? We asked experts and scholars from across MEI to weigh in with their thoughts on the changes we’ve seen so far, the new challenges that have emerged, and what we know about the administration’s key priorities for the region. 

    The Biden Administration and the Middle East: Policy Recommendations for a Sustainable Way Forward
    Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • The Biden Administration and the Middle East: Policy Recommendations for a Sustainable Way Forward

    In a new policy briefing book, entitled The Biden Administration and the Middle East: Policy Recommendations for a Sustainable Way Forward, MEI scholars tackle a large number of country-specific and region-wide issue areas, laying out both the abiding U.S. interests and specific recommendations for Biden administration policies that can further U.S. interests amid a region in turmoil.

    March 10, 2021

    Planning for the day 10 years after the fall of Gadhafi
    Photo by Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Planning for the day 10 years after the fall of Gadhafi

    Five years ago, President Barack Obama characterized the failure “to plan for the day after” the U.S. intervention in Libya as his worst foreign policy mistake. Certainly, the aftermath of the decision to provide support for the Feb. 17, 2011 uprising, which ended 42 years of Moammar Gadhafi’s erratic and dictatorial rule, hasn’t been happy. Libya’s past decade has featured recurrent civil war, state collapse, terrorism, militias, and warlords, together with competing foreign interventions despite the continuing U.N. arms embargo.

    2020 Year in Review
  • Commentary
  • 2020 Year in Review

    A look back at the year’s most important developments with analysis from Paul Salem, Alex Vatanka, Randa Slim, Gerald Feierstein, Gonul Tol, Jonathan M. Winer, Khaled Elgindy, Marvin G. Weinbaum, Mirette F. Mabrouk, Grace Wermenbol, Syed Mohammad Ali, Robert S. Ford, and Khaldoun Khelil.

    Direct Libyan-to-Libyan talks are giving Libyan peace a new chance
    Photo by Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Direct Libyan-to-Libyan talks are giving Libyan peace a new chance

    Hoping to avoid a foreign takeover of their country, a growing number of Libyans seem to have finally recognized that progress in Libya required Libyans to take charge of their own future. Accordingly, they are now taking active steps to see if they can forge a political deal to create a new, short-term transitional government to succeed the current GNA created by the Libyan Political Agreement of December 2015, following growing momentum that has already transformed Libya’s security situation with remarkable speed.

    Election 2020: Challenges and Opportunities for US Policy in the Middle East
  • Analysis
  • Election 2020: Challenges and Opportunities for US Policy in the Middle East

    In a new briefing book released ahead of the U.S. elections in November, entitled Election 2020: Challenges and Opportunities for US Policy in the Middle East, MEI scholars lay out key issues across the region, highlight the U.S. interests at stake, and provide policy insights and recommendations for the path forward.