Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Robert Malley
Can America Avoid a Forever War with Iran?
In this episode of Pivotal States, Christopher Chivvis is joined by Rob Malley of Yale University's Jackson School, a lead U.S. negotiator for the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, and Carnegie's Stephen Wertheim to examine the political and strategic forces that keep pulling the United States back toward conflict with Iran. By Christopher S.
U.S.-Iran Negotiations: The Fraught Road Ahead
Join Aaron David Miller in conversation with three former American negotiators: Robert Malley and Alan Eyre, members of the negotiating team for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015; and Michael Singh, former senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council during President George W. Bush’s administration (2005-2008), to discuss the best path forward for the U.S. and Iran, on Carnegie Connects.
Trump’s Iran deal is better than ongoing war
The MOU represents a climbdown from Donald Trump’s vow of unconditional Iranian surrender but holding out for a better deal would have heightened US economic risks © KentNishimura/AFP/Getty Images The memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran has become an American political piñata, battered by actors across the ideological spectrum. President Donald Trump’s Iran policy, a comprehensive failure from his first term to the present, warrants ample criticism.
El fiasco de Trump con Irán podría salvar a EE. UU. de la próxima guerra
Con Irán, Donald Trump ha logrado de nuevo lo imposible. Al atacar a Irán en febrero, se adentró donde sus predecesores nunca se atrevieron: se alió con Israel en un intento por derrocar o neutralizar al régimen de Teherán. Como no consiguió ninguna de las dos cosas, parece haber aceptado peores condiciones de las que podría haber obtenido por la vía diplomática.
Trump’s Iran deal is better than ongoing war
The writer was US special envoy for Iran from 2021-2023 and is now president emeritus and Middle East programme director at the...
Opinion: Trump’s Iran debacle could be a gift for America
With Iran, Donald Trump has done the impossible once more. In attacking that country in February, he went where his predecessors never dared, joining with Israel in a bid to overthrow or incapacitate the regime in Tehran. Having achieved neither, he appears to have accepted worse terms than he could have obtained through diplomacy. His war was a political albatross as well, garnering, at the start, less support from the public than any other major conflict in modern U.S. history.
El fiasco de Trump con Irán podría salvar a EE. UU. de la próxima guerra
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. El fiasco de Trump con Irán podría salvar a EE. UU. de la próxima guerra 24 de junio de 2026 a las 01:00 ET Credit...Ilustración de Sam Whitney/The New York Times Por Robert Malley y Stephen Wertheim Malley fue enviado especial para Irán entre 2021 y 2023. Wertheim es historiador especializado en la política exterior de Estados Unidos.
Trump’s Iran Debacle Could Be a Gift for America
World News 11 hours ago Trump, Iran and the Denial of Defeat TIME - by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian • 11h The golden chariot of fate has often carried President Donald Trump to safer shores when financial, business, political or legal failures trapped him in a corner.
Trump’s Iran Debacle Could Be a Gift for America
Trump’s Iran Debacle Could Be a Gift for America June 23, 2026, 1:00 a.m. ET Credit...Illustration by Sam Whitney/The New York Times By Robert Malley and Stephen Wertheim Mr. Malley was the special envoy for Iran from 2021 to 2023. Mr. Wertheim is a historian of U.S. foreign policy. With Iran, Donald Trump has done the impossible once more.
Of Course Trump Bombed Iran
Photo Illustration by Ioulex for The New York Times President Trump’s attack on Iran is astonishing in its audacity, aggression and lawlessness. Mr. Trump ordered strikes in the midst of negotiations with a nation that posed no remotely imminent threat to the United States. He did nothing to prepare his country for war. Now he’s offering a dizzying array of rationales and objectives, caught in a maelstrom of his own making. Beyond breaking with precedent, Mr. Trump also broke with himself.
Opinion | Of Course Trump Bombed Iran
President Trump’s attack on Iran is astonishing in its audacity, aggression and lawlessness. Mr. Trump ordered strikes in the midst of negotiations with a nation that posed no remotely imminent threat to the United States. He did nothing to prepare his country for war. Now he’s offering a dizzying array of rationales and objectives, caught in a maelstrom of his own making. Beyond breaking with precedent, Mr. Trump also broke with himself.
L’Iran, Gaza et le président Donald Trump - Presse-toi à gauche !
Tiré de orientxxi 28 octobre 2025 Par Alain Gresh et Robert Malley « Passages to Freedom », lithographie de l’artiste palestinienne Laila Shawa tirée de sa série Walls of Gaza, réalisée en 1994 sur la première intifada. 50 cm x 38 cm. Exposée au Palestinian Museum, Birzeit, Palestine. Tomorrow Is Yesterday : Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine (« Demain, c’est hier, La Vie, la mort et la recherche de la paix en Israël/Palestine ») éd.
Tomorrow Is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel-Palestine
In this elegiac and confessional work that reflects on their decades of trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Agha, a longtime adviser to Palestinian leaders, and Malley, an adviser to several U.S. presidents on Middle Eastern issues, write ruefully about what they now see as years of misguided policy. They argue that the two-state solution that was the cornerstone of the post-1993 Oslo peace process was fatally flawed from the start.
Life in Gaza may go from utter hell to mere nightmare. What happens now?
‘This conflict is not a technical dispute over territory, boundaries or security arrangements. It is a deep, abiding, emotional, struggle between two peoples.’ Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza demands atonement from Palestinians for the horrific acts of 7 October, not from Israel for the barbarity that followed. It calls for Gaza’s deradicalization but not an end to Israel’s messianism.
The Perilous Path to Sustained Peace in Gaza
On October 8, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Hamas and Israel had agreed to a cease-fire deal in Gaza. According to initial reporting, Hamas will free the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza; in return, Israel will free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and withdraw its troops from part of the enclave.
The Lies America Tells Itself About the Middle East
On any given day during the long war in Gaza, a Biden administration official could be expected to assert any of the following: a cease-fire was around the corner, the United States was working tirelessly to achieve one, it cared equally about the Israelis and the Palestinians, a historic Saudi-Israeli normalization deal was at hand, and all this was bound up with an irreversible path to Palestinian statehood. Not one of those pronouncements bore even a loose resemblance to the truth.
The Lies America Tells Itself About the Middle East
The Lies America Tells Itself About the Middle East As its influence faded, Washington dissembled and denied reality.
What Killed the Two-State Solution?
The war that has engulfed Israel, the Gaza Strip, and well beyond since October 7, 2023, has confronted the world with much on which it had never set eyes before. In scope and brutality, Hamas’s assault on Israelis exceeded any prior Palestinian act.
France’s recognition of a Palestinian state won’t stop Israel’s onslaught
‘France, and European governments that follow in its lead might conclude that, for now, their work on behalf of the Palestinians is done.’ Photograph: Annegret Hilse/Reuters Almost two years into a conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives, amid an Israeli military campaign and humanitarian blockade that have reached apocalyptic proportions, and faced with their own powerlessness as they bear witness to what growing numbers of experts call a genocide, Emmanuel Macron has announced...
How Weak Is Iran?
Listen to the Episode 00:00 / 00:00 MP3 Donald Trump pledged not to entangle the United States in wars in the Middle East. But last weekend, he joined Israel’s air campaign against Iran, bombing three nuclear sites before claiming that Iranian facilities targeted by U.S. aircraft and missiles had been “obliterated.” Iran responded by firing missiles at U.S. bases in the region just before Washington announced a cease-fire.
The Perils of Middle East Triumphalism
To many outside the Middle East, the American and Israeli war with Iran reads like a linear narrative: the two allies’ formidable militaries and intelligence agencies arrayed against their adversary, poised to prevail, on the cusp of indisputable, decisive triumph. The fight and its expected outcome are viewed through the prism of familiar antecedents: Hitler’s Germany overwhelmed, defeated, willing to acquiesce to the victor’s demands; Japan following suit.
Iran Welcomes Iraqi Government's Efforts To Help Revive Nuclear Deal Talks
Kanaani affirmed Tehran’s commitment to talks aimed at laying the groundwork for all parties’ return to the nuclear deal, with its priority being the removal of all sanctions imposed on the Iranian government and people.Although Iran has no direct contact or negotiation with the US government, Kanaani said that Tehran would use all diplomatic capacities to safeguard the country’s interests, particularly the removal of the sanctions.The nuclear deal was signed in July 2015 with world powers,...
Carnegie Connects: A Conversation with Robert Malley, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran represents one of the greatest challenges in the Middle East and beyond for the Biden administration. As the United States approaches the prospect of a seventh round of negotiations in Vienna over the fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), what are the chances for success? Is the agreement still viable? If not, is a broader framework realistic?
The Last Negotiation
CUT TO THE CHASE Since the collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the outbreak of the second intifada, two propositions have gained wide acceptance. The first is that trying to find a comprehensive solution to end the conflict has already been attempted—and at this point, if tried again, can only fail. The second is that an interim solution is therefore the only way out of the current crisis and might succeed if properly implemented.
On Iran nuclear deal, Biden faces more distrust in Tehran and sharpened knives in Washington
This combined photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, shows Iranian diplomats attending a virtual talk on nuclear deal with representatives of world powers, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 2, 2021.
How the Pandemic Changed the World
HOW THE PANDEMIC STARTED Why warnings of a looming crisis went unheeded. Read more The horrific costs of global dysfunction. Read more Politics and paranoia doomed the collective response. Read more HOW THE PANDEMIC WILL END No one will be safe from COVID-19 until everyone in the world is safe. Read more How new variants are tightening the race against COVID-19. Read more Competition will prolong the pandemic. Only cooperation can end it.
How America Enables War in Yemen
Editor's Note: After this article went to press, the Biden administration announced a number of measures that align with recommendations it made, including reversing the Trump administration's designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, appointing a special envoy for Yemen, curtailing support for offensive operations by the Saudi-led coalition in the conflict, supporting the UN-led peace process, and offering assurances to Saudi Arabia regarding the defense of its territorial...
An Anti-Imperialist Father and His American Diplomat Son
Robert Malley’scritics—who failed last month to prevent Joe Biden from naming him special envoy to Iran—called him a radical. Senator Tom Cotton alleged that Malley “has a long track record of sympathy for the Iranian regime & animus towards Israel.” Hawkish columnist Eli Lake claimed that Malley’s appointment would constitute Biden’s “first foreign policy blunder.” The suggestion that Malley is outside the Beltway mainstream is false.
An Anti-Imperialist Father and His American Diplomat Son
Robert Malley’scritics—who failed last month to prevent Joe Biden from naming him special envoy to Iran—called him a radical. Senator Tom Cotton alleged that Malley “has a long track record of sympathy for the Iranian regime & animus towards Israel.” Hawkish columnist Eli Lake claimed that Malley’s appointment would constitute Biden’s “first foreign policy blunder.” The suggestion that Malley is outside the Beltway mainstream is false.
Carnegie Connects: Nukes, Protests, and Iran With Robert Malley
With negotiations over the nuclear deal on hold and Iran facing its most serious protests since 2009, the Biden administration is dealing with a new reality in its relations with the Iranian regime. How have the demonstrations reshaped the administration’s thinking on Iran? Is a revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action still on the table? And what is the most effective approach to deal with Iran’s internal unrest?
10 Conflicts to Watch in 2021
If there were a contest for the 2020 event with the most far-reaching implications for global peace and security, the field would be crowded. From the coronavirus pandemic to climate change’s growing impact, the Trump administration’s scorched-earth policies after Joe Biden’s election, the Azerbaijani-Armenian war over Nagorno-Karabakh, and a deadly conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, it has been an eventful year.
Cutting Through: Happy 2021
2020 is a year we will all want to forget, but few of us will be able to. Yet for every trial and tribulation, there is a silver lining, and there is reason to hope that the calamities of 2020 will be powerful examples of that. On a global level, we can hope to have learned dual lessons from the selfishness and bumbling incompetence of Donald Trump and his minions, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, and the Secretary of Defense, National Security Adviser, and Special Adviser of the Week.
Perspective | Labeling the Houthi rebels as terrorists would prolong Yemen’s war, not end it Original
There’s no quick or easy way to end Yemen’s six-year civil war — a brutal conflict between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and a range of forces lined up against them, most prominently, the country’s Saudi Arabia-backed government. There are, however, ways to prolong it, one of those being the Trump administration’s apparent decision to designate the Houthi movement as terrorists.
Trump's 70 more days
Of the countless challenges President-elect Joe Biden will face when he assumes office, few will be as daunting as reversing President Trump’s legacy of bulldozing multilateral institutions, ripping up past international agreements, shattering norms and undermining longstanding alliances. Biden has vowed to turn the page on the “aberration” of . Trump’s foreign policy. Some Trump-induced changes will easily be reversed, but many will be challenging to unwind, and some are likely to be indelible.
Opinion | Trump Still Has 70 Days to Wreak Havoc Around the World
Of the countless challenges President-elect Joe Biden will face when he assumes office, few will be as daunting as reversing President Trump’s legacy of bulldozing multilateral institutions, ripping up past international agreements, shattering norms and undermining longstanding alliances. Mr. Biden has vowed to turn the page on the “aberration” of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy.
US rescue operation: Exploits on our soil show that insurgents are not invincible
By Chibuike Nwabuko Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Peoples Democratic Party has said that the latest exploits by the U.S and Chadian Predident on our soil only go to show that the bandits, vandals, kidnappers, insurgents are not invincible but have been allowed to take hold of our nation due to the failures of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Why coronavirus didn't consume Nigeria, Pastor Adeboye reveals
November 1, 2020 Political Editor Christian, Coronavirus, Enoch Adeboye, Mercy, Nigerians, pandemic, protection, Sunday service Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, on Sunday revealed why coronavirus did not consume Nigeria. Adeboye, who is the General Overseer of RCCG, disclosed that the mercy of God saved Nigeria from being consumed by COVID-19.
Steps are needed to avoid an election crisis in the US
By Robert Malley and Stephen Pomper Tomorrow’s US presidential election is unlike any other in living memory. Previous contests have been rancorous and some were described in existential terms. Never, at least in the past few decades, have Americans faced the realistic prospect of the incumbent rejecting the outcome, and rarely have partisan divisions risked escalating into armed conflict.
22 officers killed: Police lives matter, By Fredrick Nwabufo
Humanity is all inclusive. There are no higher or lesser humans. We all breathe the same air. Whether doctor, lawyer, journalist, police or soldier; we are all humans first, and as such we are entitled to the natural right to exist, to live. When this right is breached – even if it concerns our ‘’enemy’’ – we must all stand up against the violator and condemn the abomination. We cease being human when we selectively outrage against transgressions. Every breach of the human code must be condemned.
PDP threatens to challenge Onochie's nomination in court
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will not hesitate to challenge the nomination of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s personal aide, Lauretta Onochie, as a National Commissioner of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The party said this might be necessary, if the letter from the president, scaled second reading at the Senate.
Oyigbo: Wike keeps mum as Nigerian soldiers, starvation wreak havoc in Rivers community
Governor Nyesom Wike has maintained a dangerous snub as Nigerian soldiers continued a deadly campaign against a densely-populated community in Rivers. Since last week, Nigerian soldiers have been laying a deadly siege to Oyigbo, a border community of Rivers and Abia just 30 kilometres east of Port Harcourt. The community with its over 300,000 people has seen dozens killed by soldiers over the past week, witnesses told Peoples Gazette on Sunday.
'APC rejected opportunity to prove relevance in A'Ibom'
November 1, 2020 ebere Akwa Ibom, All Progressives Congress, People’s Democratic Party A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Mr. Chris Udofia has chided the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Akwa Ibom for boycotting last Saturday’s local government election. Udofia, a former chairman of Uyo local government area, said the APC would have used the council election to muster grassroot support as well its political relevance ahead of the 2023 general elections.
5 feared killed, many injured in Lagos multiple accidents
November 1, 2020 ebere accident, emergency, Lagos State No fewer than five persons have been feared killed and many others injured in a multiple accident involving about 10 vehicles in Lagos. The accidents, witnessed said, occurred at Alumorufu in Iyana-Ipaja along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. It was gathered a truck laden with beer bottles collided with a bus carrying worshippers of a Pentecostal church before tumbling on a car.
The US election's chaos quotient, By Nouriel Roubini
•Trump and Biden While hoping for a conclusive outcome on November 3 (or immediately thereafter), market watchers unfortunately must prepare for the worst. After all, US President Donald Trump and the Republicans are not even hiding their plans to steal the election.
US special forces storm Nigeria, kill six kidnappers, free abducted American
THE kidnap of an American citizen in neighbouring Niger Republic on Tuesday went awry on Saturday. American commandos, with security assistance from Nigeria, stormed the kidnappers’ den at an undisclosed locality in the north, killing all but one of the seven-member gang. The kidnap victim, Philip Walton, 27, was rescued alive in the early morning high-risk raid and returned to Niger immediately. Moments after the operation, President Donald Trump tweeted out his praise of the rescue mission.
Ekweremadu to lead conversation on citizen-led governance at Abuja BRANDish Meeting of Minds
LAGOS – Former Deputy Senate President, Prof Ike Ekweremadu, will lead discussions as eminent Nigerians gather in Abuja to discuss the possibilities and imperatives of a citizen-led approach to governance and nation marketing.
Can America avoid an election crisis?
BRUSSELS – The 2020 U.S. presidential election is unlike any other in living memory. Previous contests have been rancorous and some were described in existential terms. But never, at least in recent times, have Americans faced the realistic prospect of the incumbent rejecting the outcome, and rarely have partisan divisions risked escalating into armed conflict. We at the International Crisis Group (ICG) have a mandate to end, prevent, and mitigate violent conflicts wherever they emerge.
GERD: Despite Trump’s reckless remarks, US can play significant role in Nile dispute
A bird flies over the convergence between the White Nile river and Blue Nile river in Khartoum, Sudan, February 17, 2020. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra It’s a high bar, but President Trump’s comments about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) – in which he chastised Ethiopia for rejecting his proposed deal and suggested that Egypt might eventually have to blow it up – are in the running for his most casually reckless foreign policy pronouncement to date.
Can America avoid election crisis?
By Robert Malley and Stephen Pomper/Brussels The 2020 US presidential election is unlike any other in living memory. Previous contests have been rancorous and some were described in existential terms. But never, at least in recent times, have Americans faced the realistic prospect of the incumbent rejecting the outcome, and rarely have partisan divisions risked escalating into armed conflict.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Robert
Contact Robert, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack