Iran, Israel, and the United States II: the view from Washington D.C.

Elisa Catalano Ewers is a leading voice in national security policy issues related to the Middle East and North Africa, counterterrorism and security cooperation, and the workings of multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.She has over 25 years of experience as a chief advisor  in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government, in  think tanks and academia, and as a strategy consultant in the  private sector.  She served during both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, at the National Security Council, Departments of State and Defense, at U.S. Embassies overseas and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She was selected for Senior Executive Service, as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.

In her role as a senior professional staff member of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Elisa led the committee’s work on Middle East and North Africa, Nonproliferation and Arms Control, and International Economic policy. She served as the principal advisor on these foreign policy and national security issues to the Democratic members of the U.S. Senate. Additionally, she exercised oversight over billions of dollars in related U.S. funding and programs related to some of the most pressing foreign policy challenges of the day.

As an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, Ms. Ewers’ analysis appeared in such outlets as The Washington Post, Newsweek, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, BBC, CNN, and XM Radio. Elisa was an adjunct faculty  member in the graduate programs at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced  International Studies. Prior to her time in government service, Elisa had a distinguished private sector career in consulting and institutional asset management with Booz Allen Hamilton and Wellington Management Company.

She currently is an adjunct senior fellow at RAND Corporation, and a principal with Scalare Advisors. She also is a member of the executive board of directors of the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. She resides in Washington D.C. with her husband, Major General  John Ewers, USMC (ret), their sons John and Lloyd, and their labrador Gracie.

Moderator: Christopher E. Barr is a foreign policy professional with over a decade of experience at the intersection of U.S. foreign policy, Congress, and the Middle East and North Africa. Most recently, he served as the  Senior Legislative and Policy Analyst for the Democratic staff of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he worked from June 2013 to March 2025. His main focus areas were the Middle East and North Africa, non-proliferation, and international financial institutions, on which he provided analysis and policy guidance to the Committee Chairman. Chris has traveled throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and lived, studied and worked in Cairo, Egypt before his time on the Foreign Relations Committee. Chris holds a Juris Doctor (JD) in International and Corporate Law, with a focus on Islamic Jurisprudence, from the New York University School of Law. He also earned a Graduate Diploma in Middle East Politics and Economics from The American University in Cairo, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Princeton University. Chris currently lives in Yarmouth, Maine.