Mark Dubowitz
Chief Executive
Biography
Mark Dubowitz is the chief executive of FDD, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan policy institute.
Mark is an expert on Iran’s nuclear program and global threat network, and is widely recognized as one of the key influencers in shaping policies to counter the threats from the regime in Iran. He is the host of The Iran Breakdown, which unpacks and explores the key challenges and opportunities facing Iran. He also contributes to FDD’s China Program drawing on his academic background in China studies and his private sector work in the Indo-Pacific.
In 2019, Iran sanctioned Mark and FDD, calling them “the designing and executing arm of the U.S. administration” on Iran policy. These threats led to bipartisan condemnation, including from Trump, Obama, Bush and Clinton administration officials.
In 2022, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC accused Mark and FDD of playing “a key role in organizing the rebellions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
That same year, Russia sanctioned Mark among other prominent national security and business professionals in response to American efforts to hold Moscow accountable for its war in Ukraine. Mark has long exposed the malign ties between the regimes in Russia and Iran and advocated for sanctions on Russia.
According to The New York Times, “Mark Dubowitz’s campaign to draw attention to what he saw as the flaws in the Iran nuclear deal has taken its place among the most consequential ever undertaken by a Washington think tank leader.”
According to The Atlantic, “Dubowitz has been helping design and push forward sanctions on Iran…establishing the FDD as D.C.’s ground zero for research and policy recommendations aimed at highlighting and fixing what Dubowitz saw as the flaws in the nuclear agreement.”
Mark was featured as one of the key “financial warriors” in the book “The Iran Wars.” Politico magazine featured Mark as one of Washington’s leading policy experts challenging Iran’s illicit behavior, observing that he is “…constantly thinking up—and promoting—new ways to squeeze the regime…”
According to a former U.S. senior administration official, “If you want to know what’s going to happen next in Iran policy, there’s a pretty good bet that it’s whatever has been in the latest Mark Dubowitz or FDD op-ed.”
Mark has advised the Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden administrations and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and testified more than twenty times before the U.S. Congress and foreign legislatures. He is the author or co-author of dozens of studies on economic sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program and is widely published and cited in U.S. and international media. A former venture capitalist and technology executive, Mark has a master’s degree in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies where he focused on China, and JD and MBA degrees from the University of Toronto. Raised in Toronto, he is a proud American citizen, and has lived in Washington, D.C. since 2003.