Alan Makovsky is a senior fellow for National Security and International Policy at American Progress. From 2001 to 2013, he served as a senior professional staff member on the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he covered the Middle East, Turkey, and other related issues.
At the Washington Institute for Near East Policy—a private think tank where he worked from 1994 to 2001—Makovsky wrote widely on various Middle Eastern and Turkish topics. He also founded and directed the Washington Institute’s Turkey Research Program.
At the State Department where he worked from 1983 to 1994—Makovsky variously covered southern European affairs and Middle Eastern affairs for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He also served as the political advisor to Operation Provide Comfort in 1992 and as the special advisor to the special Middle East coordinator from 1993 to 1994.
Opportunities and Challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean: Examining U.S. Interests and Regional Cooperation
Alan Makovsky, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, provided testimony on March 31, 2022, before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the United States’ involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
U.S.-Turkey Ties: Better Atmosphere, But Harsher Reality Awaits
Following the recent Biden-Erdoğan summit, Alan Makovsky provides insight into the overall outlook for bilateral relations between Turkey and the United States
Northern Syria Security Dynamics and the Refugee Crisis
Ensuring stability in northern Syria will require international engagement that balances humanitarian concerns with the moral hazard created by Turkey’s occupation.
Polling shows that members of Europe’s Turkish and Turkish-Kurdish diaspora value their separate identity; nevertheless, they welcome the opportunities and freedom of life in Europe, even in the face of lingering discrimination.
Turkey issued new rules for social media. That may mean that media censorship wasn’t working.
Max Hoffman and Alan Makovsky discuss how Turkey's move to effectively ban Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube is another step in the country's push to control the media.
Government censorship is rapidly reshaping how Turks get their news, with major implications for Turkish foreign policy, political polarization, and Erdoğan’s rule.
Despite Turkish leaders’ frequent insistence that Syrian refugees will return home, privately, they seem to be preparing for the likelihood that most will remain permanently.
Turkey: Post-Election Human Rights and Strategies for Accountability
American Progress Senior Fellow Alan Makovsky briefs the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the recent constitutional amendments passed in Turkey that changed the nation from a parliamentary system to a highly centralized presidential system.
A major new poll ahead of Turkish elections shows sharp divisions among Turks about the president’s tenure and the vulnerability of Erdoğan and the government on the economy.
A new CAP study finds broad consensus among Turks about the dimensions of Turkish national identity and the nation's relationship to the rest of the world.
