Frederic Wehrey

Photo of Frederic Wehrey

Media Resources

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Senior Policy Analyst
Santa Monica Office

Education

D.Phil. candidate in international relations, St. Antony's College, Oxford University; M.A. in Near Eastern studies, Princeton University; B.A. in history, Occidental College

Overview

Biography

Frederic Wehrey is a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. His research focuses on Persian Gulf security, Iran, Libya, civil–military relations, and U.S. policy in the Middle East. In the summer of 2008, he served as a strategic advisor to MNF-I in Baghdad, focusing on post-surge challenges. He has also served as an active-duty and reserve U.S. Air Force officer, with assignments in Turkey, Iraq, Libya, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Since the fall of 2009, he has been an adjunct professor of security studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He speaks and reads Arabic. He has been interviewed by major media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, PBS Newshour, NPR, BBC, and CNN. His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Washington Quarterly, Current History, Survival, Arab Reform Bulletin, Chicago Journal of International Law, and Small Wars and Insurgencies.

Previous Positions

Ten years as an active-duty U.S. Air Force officer focusing on Middle East affairs; deployed to Baghdad in 2003; later served as an Iran analyst on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon; completed fieldwork and professional assignments in Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Yemen, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel

Recent Projects

  • Lessons Learned from NATO's Libya Intervention
  • U.S. Defense Relationships after the Arab Spring
  • Shi'ism in the Arab Gulf States

Selected Publications

Dalia Dassa Kaye, Frederic Wehrey, Michael Scott Doran, "Arab Spring, Persian Winter: Will Iran Emerge the Winner from the Arab Revolt?" Foreign Affairs, 90(4), 2011

Frederic Wehrey "The Iraq War: Strategic Overreach by America--and also al Qaeda," in Brian Michael Jenkins and John Godges, The Long Shadow of 9/11: America's Response to Terrorism, RAND Corporation (MG-1107-RC), 2011

Frederic Wehrey, "Uprisings Jolt the Saudi-Iranian Rivalry," Current History, 2011

Frederic Wehrey et al., The Iraq Effect: The Middle East After the Iraq War, RAND Corporation (MG-892-AF), 2010

Frederic Wehrey et al., Saudi-Iranian Relations Since the Fall of Saddam: Rivalry, Cooperation and Implications for U.S. Policy, RAND Corporation (MG-840), 2009

Frederic Wehrey et al., The Rise of the Pasdaran: Assessing the Domestic Roles of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, RAND Corporation (MG-821-OSD), 2009

Dalia Dassa Kaye and Frederic Wehrey, "A Nuclear Iran: The Reactions of Neighbours," Survival, 49(2):111-118, 2007

Frederic Wehrey, "A Clash of Wills: Hizballah's Psychological Campaign Against Israel in South Lebanon," Small Wars and Insurgencies, 13(2), 2001

Honors & Awards

  • Frank Carlucci Investigator Award, RAND
  • Cleveland Dodge Memorial Prize, Princeton University
  • Bronze Star Medal, United States Army

Languages

Arabic

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: Associated Press; BBC World Service; Christian Science Monitor; CNN; New York Times; NPR; PBS Newshour; Reuters; TIME; Washington Post; Washington Times

Commentary: Arab Reform Bulletin; Christian Science Monitor; The Daily Star (Lebanon); ForeignAffairs.com; ForeignPolicy.com; United Press International

Commentary

An Open Door in Libya — Oct 20, 2011

  • CNN

Libyan Nation Building After Qaddafi — Aug 23, 2011

  • ForeignAffairs.com

Fifth Columns in the Gulf? — May 24, 2010

  • ForeignPolicy.com

Lebanon's Sectarian Aftershocks — Aug 8, 2006

  • United Press International