Mark Dubowitz

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.[1][2][3][4] He is a proponent of sanctions against Iran to escalate a confrontation with Iran[5] 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.” [2]

Mark Dubowitz
Born (1968-09-11) 11 September 1968
South Africa
OccupationCEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
EducationJohns Hopkins University (MA)
University of Toronto (JD, MBA)

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.[2]

Early life and education

Dubowitz is a citizen of the United States.[6] He was born in South Africa and raised in Toronto.

Dubowitz earned a master's degree in international public policy from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he focused on China. He also earned a Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto.[7][8][3] He has also studied at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.[9] He spent the first 8 years after law school working on funding technology start-ups in Toronto, as an attorney and venture capitalist in Toronto.[7]

Career

Dubowitz is the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.[10] He co-founded FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power and FDD's Center on Military and Political Power,[3] and is the author or co-author of more than twenty studies on economic sanctions.[11][3] He also is co-chair of the Project on U.S. Middle East Nonproliferation Strategy.[12]

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.[9] "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."[9]

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.[13]

He is currently sanctioned by the Iranian government.[14]

Opposition to Iran nuclear deal

According to The New York Times, "no one outside the Trump administration was a more persistent or effective critic [of the Iran nuclear agreement] than Mark Dubowitz".[2] As a vocal critic of the agreement, Dubowitz has stated that it did not address Iran's non-nuclear malign activity, such as its misappropriation of economic relief to fund terrorism, and "its lack of any limits on the regime’s ballistic missile program and its 'sunset provisions' that would allow Iran to increase its capacity to enrich uranium beginning seven years from now."[2] According to Politico, although Dubowitz "was an intense critic of the Iran deal," he "nonetheless advocated against scrapping it."[15]

He told Ynet in 2011 that at FDD they "closely monitor international companies that do business with Iran, invest in Iran's energy sector and provide important equipment and technologies to this sector.[9] They also monitor the movement of commercial vessels coming into and leaving Iran.[9]

Dubowitz opposed the Obama administration's nuclear diplomacy with Iran, testifying before Congress on several occasions against the nuclear talks, including to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (February 2014),[16] Senate Banking Committee (January 27, 2015),[17] House Financial Services Committee (July 22, 2015), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (July 29, 2015),[18] Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (August 5, 2015),[19] and the House Ways and Means Committee (November 4, 2015).[20]

Dubowitz authored or co-authored several op-eds on the Iran deal, published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.[21][22][23][24][25]

References
  1. Kampeas, Ron (July 15, 2015). "Why the Republican Congress Most Likely Cannot Stop the Iran Deal". Haaretz.
  2. "He Was a Tireless Critic of the Iran Deal. Now He Insists He Wanted to Save It". The New York Times. 2018-05-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  3. "FDD | Mark Dubowitz". FDD. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  4. Jett, Dennis C. (2017), The Iran Nuclear Deal: Bombs, Bureaucrats, and Billionaires, Springer, p. 85, ISBN 9783319598222
  5. "U.S. Senators Pushing for Tougher Sanctions on Iran, to the Point of Bankruptcy". Haaretz. Associated Press. November 9, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  6. "Mark Dubowitz profile". Defenddemocracy.org. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  7. Goodspeed, Peter (January 28, 2012). "Ratcheting Up The Hassle Factor; Expert sees sanctions against Iran wounding the regime by making it difficult to do business". National Post.
  8. "Master of Global Affairs". Munkschool.utoronto.ca. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  9. Benhorin, Yitzhak (26 April 2011). "The man who fights Iran". Ynetnews.
  10. "Iran-Sanctions Bid Targets Oil, Tanker Companies to Cut Exports". Bloomberg Businessweek. February 14, 2012. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  11. "Foundation for Defense of Democracies". Defenddemocracy.org. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  12. "Press Release - Project on U.S. Middle East Nonproliferation Strategy | Institute for Science and International Security". Isis-online.org. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  13. "Mark Dubowitz - Master of Global Affairs". Munkschool.utoronto.ca. 2013-08-21. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  14. "Foreign Ministry Blacklists 'Foundation for Defence of Democracies'". Islamic Republic of Iran: Ministry of Foreign Affairs. August 24, 2019.
  15. Nelson, Louis (21 May 2018). "Pompeo threatens Iran with 'strongest sanctions in history'". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
  16. "Dubowitz prepared testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee" (PDF). Senate Foreign Relations Committee website. February 4, 2014. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  17. "Dubowitz prepared testimony to the Senate Banking Committee" (PDF). Oranwatch.org. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  18. "Congressional Testimony: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (PDF). Foreign.senate.gov. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  19. "Testimony: Foundation for Defense of Democracies". Defenddemocracy.org. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  20. "Testimony: Foundation for Defense of Democracies". Defenddemocracy.org. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  21. Marc, Reuel (2015-07-08). "The Iranian Nuclear Paradox". WSJ.com. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  22. Gerecht, Reuel Marc; Dubowitz, Mark (19 November 2011). "Don't Give Up on Sanctions". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  23. Marc, Reuel (2015-04-03). "Reuel Marc Gerecht and Mark Dubowitz: Iran's Negotiating Triumph Over Obama and America". WSJ.com. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  24. "How to Get a Better Deal With Iran". Foreign Policy. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  25. "Amend Iran deal to improve it: Opposing view". Usat.ly. 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
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