Washington Institute for Near East Policy

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Motto	Insight and Analysis on U.S. Middle East Policy
Formation	1985
Headquarters	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Executive Director	Robert Satloff
Website	www.washingtoninstitute.org

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States as it pertains to the countries of Southwest Asia. Established in 1985, the institute's mission statement says that it seeks "to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them."

A group of American citizens created the Washington Institute in 1985 to draw from the experience and scholarship of academics and former high-level government officials. The Institute would "focus on cutting-edge research on regional issues that were not being addressed comprehensively by existing organizations."

Martin Indyk, an Australian-trained academic and former deputy director of research for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, helped found WINEP in 1985. Indyk sought to produce nonpartisan scholarship and disinterested assessments on the Middle East; he saw the institute as "friendly to Israel but doing credible research on the Middle East in a realistic and balanced way." The research was thus designed to be more independent and academic-quality. At the time it was founded, the Institute focused research on Arab–Israeli relations, political and security issues, and overall U.S. Middle East policy. In the 1990s, prompted by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Persian Gulf War, and changes in regional strategy, the Institute expanded its research agenda to "focus on Turkey and the rise of Islamic politics." Under Indyk's leadership, the institute gained notability as a center for the study and discussion of Middle East policy, and attracted Arab intellectuals to its events. Indyk would go on to serve in several U.S. diplomatic posts including U.S. ambassador to Israel, special envoy for Israeli–Palestinian negotiations, special assistant to President Clinton and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. Indyk is currently vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution.