Daniel Benaim

Daniel Benaim is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the Near East Bureau at the U.S. Department of State. A former Middle East policy advisor to President Biden, he has worked at the White House, State Department, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He previously held fellowships at the Century Foundation and Center for American Progress researching U.S. policy in the Middle East. From 2013-2015, Benaim served as Middle East policy advisor and foreign policy speechwriter to Vice President Biden, traveling with the Vice President to more than 20 countries. Before that, he served as a member of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Policy Planning Staff covering the Middle East and wrote speeches for Secretary Clinton, Deputy Secretary Bill Burns and Deputy Secretary Tom Nides. Benaim has also served as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chief speechwriter to Senator John Kerry, and on the National Security Council staff. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs.  He is a lifetime member and former International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.