About

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. His academic background includes teaching at several universities such as Cornell University, the Ohio State University, the University of Southern California, Princeton University, Columbia University, Swarthmore College, and the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned his doctorate in political science. His research focuses on international politics and Middle Eastern affairs, with a particular emphasis on Arab public opinion, Middle East peace processes, and U.S. foreign policy in the region. Professor Telhami has been actively involved in foreign policy advisory roles, including serving as an advisor to the US Mission to the UN, to former Congressman Lee Hamilton, and as a senior advisor to George Mitchell, President Obama's United States Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. He has also contributed to the US delegation to the Trilateral US-Israeli-Palestinian Anti-Incitement Committee and served on the Iraq Study Group. His work extends to public diplomacy, having served on the US Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World and co-drafted reports for the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an accomplished author, with his best-selling book 'The Stakes: America and the Middle East' being recognized as one of the top five books on the Middle East in 2003 by Foreign Affairs. His research includes leading the annual Arab Public Opinion Survey since 2002 and contributing to numerous publications and policy reports.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Information Retrieval
• Business
• Geography
• Advertising
• Political Science
• Chemistry
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Sociology
• World Wide Web
• Media studies
• History
• Internet privacy
• Ancient history
• Law

Selected publications

• Do Americans Favor Attacking Iran Under the Current Circumstances?

  Open MIND · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  OA PDFDOI

• The use of <i>confirmation</i> and <i>refutation</i> frames in fact-checking war-related misinformation

  Research & Politics · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  We implement a survey experiment to measure the effects of confirmation versus refutation frames in fact-checking wartime corrections. Respondents were presented with semantically equivalent statements that either confirmed accurate information (e.g., “It is TRUE that President Zelensky remained in Ukraine”) or refuted its inaccurate version (e.g., “It is FALSE that President Zelensky left Ukraine”). We evaluate whether confirmation frames increase sharing behavior compared with refutation frames. We also test whether refutation frames elicit more negative sentiments—such as anger and disgust—while confirmation frames generate more positive emotional responses. The experimental design mimics a Facebook post and employs four randomized treatments that vary in framing (confirmation vs. refutation) and news source ( The New York Times vs Fox News ). The survey was administered to 2091 U.S. adults in May 2022.

  PublisherDOI

• Arab and American Dimensions of the Israel/Palestine Issue

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2023-03-15

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter explores the dimensions of Arabs and Americans in the Israel/Palestine issue. It explains the significance of the Arab dimension since interest-based global policies assumed that Palestine has been central to the Arab public, if not to their governments. Meanwhile, the American dimension is important since the nation holds the principal global power while being Israel's principal enabler by providing a technological military edge. Due to the shift between Arab and American politics, the force pushing for a two state solution weakened. The chapter mentions the signs of public opinion shifting to be more accepting of a one state outcome with full equality unlike the Arab and American ruling elites remaining closely tied to the two state paradigm.

  PublisherDOI

• Introduction: What Is Israel/Palestine?

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2023 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Ancient history
  • History
  PublisherDOI

• Contents

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2023-02-23

  paratextOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Introduction

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2023-03-15

  book-chapterSenior author

  This chapter discusses the state reality of Israel/Palestine. It offers an alternative history of Israel/Palestine that focuses on how parties debated alternative visions. After World War I, Palestine became a political unit with a future that was yet to be determined. Thus, Israel/Palestine is in a state of becoming something else due to the contested political status of the areas by numerous parties. The chapter notes that sovereignty is central to the modern world order and states without can seem to be an anomaly. It then mentions how apartheid will become a reality if current trends of unequal rights continued.

  PublisherDOI

• Frontmatter

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2023-02-23

  book-chapterOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 10. Arab and American Dimensions of the Israel/Palestine Issue

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2023-02-23

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Yes, it’s the economy, but the state of democracy, abortion and Ukraine loom large as issues before 2022 midterms

  2022-11-04

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Poll reveals white Americans see an increase in discrimination against other white people and less against other racial groups

  2022-07-01

  preprintSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Scott B. Lasensky

  University of Maryland, College Park

  21 shared

• Steven L. Spiegel

  20 shared

• William B. Quandt

  University of Virginia

  20 shared

• Daniel C. Kurtzer

  Princeton Public Schools

  19 shared

• Michael Barnett

  11 shared

• Nathan J. Brown

  11 shared

• Nathan Lynch

  Cornell University

  9 shared

• Milton J. Esman

  9 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science

  University of California at Berkeley

Awards & honors

• Distinguished International Service Award by the University…
• Excellence in Public Service Award by the University System…
• Great Immigrants by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and…