Ismail Dahiyat

Director, Near East & Central Asia Division

Born and raised in Jordan, Dr. Ismail Dahiyat joined VOA in 1974 as a broadcaster in the Middle East. Working for the former VOA Arabic Service, he covered major stories including the Iran-Iraq war and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and the Gulf war. He has traveled and worked in many of the countries of the region, including Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine (the West Bank). As reporter, author and college professor, Dr. Dahiyat has extensive knowledge of the Middle East, including such major flash points as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ethnic and religious tensions, and the problems of governance and development. He has written about U.S. policy in the Middle East, Arab oil—blessing or curse, the religious and cultural roots of U.S. policy in the Middle East, and Islam in America.

Dr. Dahiyat has taught at Georgetown University, the University of Jordan and Binghamton University. Currently as a VOA Division Director, he oversees six broadcast services which cover a wide range of issues important to U.S. relations with the Near East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

See what he has to say about:

Extremists affecting Islam's Image

Citizen Uprising

U.S.-Arab Relations

Kurdish Drive for Independence

Expertise

• Flash points of the Middle East
• Arab/Palestinian-Israeli conflict
• Arab-American affairs
• Islam and religion in conflict

Education

• British Council’s General Certificate of Education, Amman, Jordan
• B.A. (Honors), University of Baghdad, Iraq
• M.A. in International Relations, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
• Ph.D. in English and comparative literature, SUNY

Contacts

• Phone: 1 (202) 203-4959
• Fax: 1 (202) 203-4960
• Our address: Voice of America Public Relations
  330 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20237