Paul Salem is president and CEO of the Middle East Institute. He is the author and editor of a number of books including Ideology and Politics in the Arab World (1994), The Causes and Consequences of the Arab Uprisings (2013), Ending Civil Wars in the Middle East (2019) and Toward Regional Order in the Middle East (2017), Prior to joining MEI, Salem was the founding director of the Carnegie Middle East Center; director of the Fares Foundation; founding director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies; and associate professor at the American University of Beirut.