Geoeconomic Experts Eitan Danon and Joshua Kram join The Washington Institute

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Eitan Danon and Joshua Kram, two leading experts on economic statecraft, national security, and the Middle East, have joined The Washington Institute for Near East Policy as adjunct senior fellows.

Danon and Kram's research agenda at the Institute will focus on Middle East geoeconomics, examining how capital, technology, infrastructure, and economic statecraft are shaping the region.

"Eitan and Joshua bring an exceptional combination of policy sophistication, private-sector experience, and regional expertise to the Institute," said Robert Satloff, the Institute's Segal Executive Director and Howard P. Berkowitz Chair in U.S. Middle East Policy. "They will carry into our ranks their highly regarded close monitoring and analysis of reconstruction contracts, regional infrastructure integration, and commercial deal-making-and help offer cutting-edge policy recommendations for the United States on geoeconomic developments in the Middle East."

Danon has spent nearly two decades working on intelligence, financial diplomacy, and the national security dimensions of emerging technologies, with a focus on the Middle East. He served for more than a decade in the U.S. intelligence community in both analytic and operational roles focused on the Middle East and counterterrorism. He later served as a senior policy advisor at the Department of the Treasury, where he focused on illicit finance and macroeconomic issues across the Middle East.

Danon is now a strategic advisor at Chainalysis, where he leads the company's work on the geopolitical implications of how state and nonstate actors leverage digital assets and blockchain technology. Danon's writing has appeared in Foreign Policy, The National Interest, and elsewhere. He is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew, French, and Spanish. He holds an M.A. with high honors in international security from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kram has spent his career working at the intersection of business, government, and international affairs, with a focus on the Middle East. He served as senior advisor at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, where he worked on major investments and policy initiatives across the Middle East and other priority markets. Previously, he was vice president of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he established several of its flagship Middle East programs, including the Middle East Commercial Center and U.S.-Israel Business Council, and led initiatives focused on trade, investment, and sanctions across the Gulf, Levant, and Iran. Earlier in his career, he worked on U.S. presidential and Senate campaigns and held positions with international NGOs, advocacy organizations, and consulting firms focused on the Middle East.

Kram now leads Westbrook Global Advisory, advising companies and investors on government strategy and economic statecraft. He has been published in The National Interest, The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, The Hill, and elsewhere. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Florida and holds an M.B.A. from Emory University.

Together, Kram and Danon are the co-founders of Riyalpolitik, an online newsletter focused on the changing economic story of today's Middle East.

Media Contact: Rehana Paul, 202-230-9550, email.

About The Washington Institute: The Institute is an independent, nonpartisan research institution funded exclusively by U.S. citizens that seeks to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them. Drawing on the research of its fellows and the experience of its policy practitioners, the Institute promotes informed debate and scholarly research on U.S. policy in the region.