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Robert Barron

Program Officer, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

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Robert Barron is a program officer with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, where he manages a portfolio of policy research, conflict analysis, and peacebuilding projects.

Prior to joining USIP in 2018, Barron served as policy assistant to the director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, where he managed and contributed to the institute’s research on the Middle East and served on the institute’s executive leadership team. In 2015-16, he worked as a journalist and editor in Cairo, Egypt, and in 2014 worked in economic development in Cairo.

Barron holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M University.

Publications By Robert

Robert Barron on the Violence in the West Bank

Robert Barron on the Violence in the West Bank

Monday, February 6, 2023

By: Robert Barron

After an especially violent month in the West Bank, a two-state solution seems as distant a prospect as ever — leaving many “worried that we could be witnessing a spiral” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as no one seems inclined “to take the steps that would be required to realize a two-state solution,” says USIP’s Robert Barron.

Type: Podcast

Takeaways from Blinken’s Trip to the Middle East

Takeaways from Blinken’s Trip to the Middle East

Friday, February 3, 2023

By: Robert Barron;  Caroline Dibble;  Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen;  Garrett Nada;  Ambassador Hesham Youssef

The Middle East has not been a high priority for the Biden administration thus far, with issues such as Russia’s war in Ukraine and escalating tensions with China taking precedence. However, recent developments in the region are catching the administration’s attention, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank earlier this week sought to reaffirm U.S. engagement in the Middle East amid political turnover in Israel, spiraling violence in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, stepped-up Iran-Israel tensions and a deepening economic crisis in Egypt.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Peace Processes

For Israelis and Palestinians, a Tragic Spiral Reemerges

For Israelis and Palestinians, a Tragic Spiral Reemerges

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

By: Robert Barron

Since late last week, violence between Israelis and Palestinians has rapidly escalated in the West Bank and around Jerusalem, and January has proven to be one of the most violent months in the West Bank in decades. Attacks continue, exacerbated by bitter publics, frenzied politics and fragile institutions in the West Bank. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict may be in a spiral toward a third intifada and even the possible end of the two-state paradigm.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Peace Processes

How Do Israeli and Palestinian Youth View the Prospects for Peace?

How Do Israeli and Palestinian Youth View the Prospects for Peace?

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

By: Robert Barron

Amid this year’s rising tide of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, a new poll released last week by Khalil Shikaki and Dahlia Scheindlin brings more sobering news. In the study, pollsters found that in Israel, for the first time, support for a nondemocratic regime (unequal rights between Israelis and Palestinians) is stronger than a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trends among young people are especially striking — only 20 percent Israeli Jews aged 18-34 are in favor a two-state solution to the conflict.

Type: Blog

Peace Processes;  Youth

Could the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Border Deal be a Game-Changer?

Could the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Border Deal be a Game-Changer?

Thursday, October 13, 2022

By: Robert Barron;  Mona Yacoubian;  Ambassador Hesham Youssef

Israel, Lebanon and the United States announced this week that a deal has been reached between Israel and Lebanon on each country’s maritime border. Negotiations between the parties over the 330-square-miles of the Mediterranean Sea have proceeded with stops and starts since 2020, but over the past few months edged toward a mutually acceptable outcome. Under the agreement, the contested waters will be divided by a line straddling the “Qana” natural gas field. Both parties would be able to produce gas on their side of the line, in addition to royalty arrangements agreed upon. A buoy line will remain between the two countries.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Economics;  Peace Processes

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