Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East

The Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East provides policymakers, scholars and the general public with comprehensive analyses of regional issues, events and trends that impact U.S. policy and global stability. Named in honor of Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, the founding director of the Baker Institute, the center focuses on key policy areas including, Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution, the political economy of the Gulf, refugees, human rights and women’s right issues in the MENA, U.S.-Iranian relations and Islamist movements.

The center builds on the Baker Institute’s long engagement with the Middle East and provides support for research, lectures, conferences and affiliations with other experts and organizations addressing policy challenges in the region. The center offers a nonpartisan voice relying on data-driven research and direct engagement with decision-makers in the United States and in the region. The center also collaborates with experts at the institute’s Center for Energy Studies as well as Rice University academics studying the history, politics and societies of the Middle East. As a meeting point for different academic disciplines and viewpoints, the center fosters informed, policy-relevant dialogue and recommendations. 

In May 2022, Rice University President David Leebron announced, “With the approval and endorsement of Rice University’s Board of Trustees, the Baker Institute’s Center for the Middle East will henceforth be known as the Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East” in recognition of Djerejian’s role as founding director of the Baker Institute and his “extraordinary leadership and deeply impactful foreign service career.”