This program is presented in partnership with the Boise Committee on Foreign Relations.
Daniel Benaim is a senior fellow at American Progress, researching U.S. policy in the Middle East, as well as a visiting lecturer at New York University. Previously, he served as a Middle East policy adviser and foreign policy speechwriter at the White House, the Department of State, and the U.S. Senate. He was also an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Until June 2015, he was foreign policy speechwriter and Middle East adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden, traveling with the vice president to 25 countries. Before that, he wrote speeches for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Deputy Secretaries Bill Burns and Tom Nides and served as a member of Secretary Clinton’s policy planning staff covering Egypt. Benaim also has been a professional staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chief speechwriter to former Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), and a detailee to the National Security Council staff. Additionally, he designed and taught a graduate speechwriting course at George Washington University.
Benaim’s writings on behalf of government officials have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. Publications under his own name include the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, and The American Prospect. He received his M.A. in law and diplomacy from The Fletcher School and his B.A. in English literature from Yale University. He is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations.