{{short description|American academic (born 1957)}} '''Joshua M. Landis''' (born May 14, 1957) is an American academic who specializes in the Middle East and is an expert on Syria.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hirsch|first1=Michael|title=Obama's New Best Friend in Syria: Vladimir Putin|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/obama-putin-syria-alliance-russian-intervention-213205/|access-date=October 14, 2015|work=Politico|date=September 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Dilanian|first1=Ken|title=CIA-backed rebels in Syria face Russian bombardment|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/us-officials-cia-backed-syrian-rebels-russian-bombardment|access-date=October 14, 2015|agency=Associated Press|publisher=PBS Newshour|date=October 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Timm|first1=Trevor|title=Presidential candidates must answer uncomfortable questions about Syria|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/13/presidential-candidates-must-answer-uncomfortable-questions-about-syria|accessdate=October 14, 2015|work=The Guardian|date=October 13, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Support For Syrian Regime Critical In Fight Against ISIS, Putin Says At U.N.|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/09/28/444236874/support-for-syrian-regime-critical-in-fight-against-isis-putin-says-at-u-n|accessdate=October 14, 2015|work=All Things Considered|publisher=NPR|date=September 28, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Should the United States Work With Russia in Syria?|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2015-10-08/should-united-states-work-russia-syria|accessdate=October 14, 2015|work=Foreign Affairs}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Hussein, Sara|first1=Lapenkova, Marina|title=Russia moves into Syria to boost Assad, send signal to West|url=https://news.yahoo.com/russia-moves-syria-boost-assad-send-signal-west-001400613.html|accessdate=October 14, 2015|agency=Agence France-Presse|publisher=Yahoo! News|date=September 16, 2015}}</ref> He is the head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bulos|first1=Nabih|title=A 'kaleidoscopic' mix of rebel alliances on Syria's battlefield|url=http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-moderate-rebels-20151012-story.html|accessdate=October 14, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 12, 2015}}</ref> and since 2004, he has published the blog ''Syria Comment''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oudaily.com/news/professor-s-blog-keeps-ou-in-the-news-world-informed/article_b44ade40-4f71-51a2-af1c-06ab4d2ca2ab.html |title=Professor's blog keeps OU in the news, world informed on Mideast nation |publisher=OUDaily.com |date=2008-11-06 |accessdate=October 13, 2015}}</ref>
== Background == {{singlesource|section|date=April 2025}} {{coi|section|date=April 2025}} [[File:Oklahoma-Academic’s-Syria-Blog-Draws-Worldwide-Audience.webm|thumb|VOA report about Landis from 2015]] Landis was born on May 14, 1957, in Manhattan, New York City, New York. When he was one year old, his family moved to Saudi Arabia, where his father was sent by Citibank to open the first branch of an American bank in the country. After staying in Saudi Arabia for three years, Landis' family moved to Beirut, Lebanon, due to his father being transferred there to work as Citibank's vice-president for the Middle East. When Landis was ten years old, his family moved back to the United States.<ref name=Global-Dispatches>{{Cite web|url=https://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/episode-141-joshua-landis/|title=Global Dispatches Podcast: Episode 141: Joshua Landis (Interview with Joshua Landis, from 26:00) |date=22 January 2019|website=Global Dispatches Podcast|access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref>
Landis earned a BA from Swarthmore College, majoring in European History and French Literature. He spent his college sophomore year in France. After graduating, Landis then returned to Beirut in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War to teach at the International College, Beirut. According to Landis, his experience of living in Beirut during the civil war shaped his interpretation of the Syrian Civil War later on. In 1981, Landis went to Damascus University on a Fulbright Grant. During the following year, whilst Landis was still living in Damascus, the Hama uprising of 1982 took place. Landis visited Hama a week after the uprising.<ref name=Global-Dispatches/>
Landis went on to earn an MA from Harvard University, and then a PhD from Princeton University. Fluent in Arabic and French, he has studied Turkish, Italian, and Ottoman Turkish. He has received three Fulbright grants and a Social Science Research Council award.
== Academia == He taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Wake Forest University, and Princeton University before moving to the University of Oklahoma. Since May 2004, Landis has published the ''Syrian Comment'' blog, which focuses on Syrian politics, history, and religion. Landis regularly travels to Washington, D.C., to consult with government agencies.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
Landis is a frequent analyst on TV and radio, such as ''PBS News Hour'', ''Charlie Rose Show'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Crisis in Syria|url=http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12139|accessdate=October 14, 2015|work=Charlie Rose Show|date=February 6, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903122135/http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12139|archivedate=September 3, 2014}}</ref> CNN and Fox News.<ref>See [http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?page_id=9821 here via his homepage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314104533/http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?page_id=9821 |date=2012-03-14 }}, retrieved 1 September 2014.</ref> He comments frequently for NPR and BBC Radio. He has spoken at the Brookings Institution, USIP, Middle East Institute, and Council on Foreign Relations.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}
== Personal life == Landis is married to Manar Kashour, who comes from an Alawite family in Syria.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-24 |title=The Middle East in the Time of the Great Sorting-Out |url=https://www.oasiscenter.eu/en/joshua-landis-syria-sunnis-crisis-great-sorting-out |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Fondazione Internazionale Oasis |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-06-27 |title=Our Man in the Middle East |url=https://soonermag.oufoundation.org/stories/our-man-in-the-middle-east |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530235107/https://soonermag.oufoundation.org/stories/our-man-in-the-middle-east |archive-date=2024-05-30 |access-date=2024-12-27 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
== External links == *[http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/ Joshua M Landis] at the University of Oklahoma *[http://joshualandis.com/blog/ Syria Comment] Articles written by Joshua Landis: *"[http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/battle-isis-syrias-rebel-militias/ "The Battle between ISIS and Syrias Rebel Militias,"]" (January 4, 2014) in Syrian Comment *"[http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/syrian-uprising-2011-why-asad-regime-likely-survive-2013? “The Syrian Uprising of 2011: Why the Assad Regime is Likely to Survive to 2013,”]" (February 2012) in Middle East Policy Vol. XIX, No. 1 (2012). *"[https://ou.academia.edu/JoshuaLandis/Papers/290530/SHISHAKLI-AND-THE-DRUZES--INTEGRATION-AND-INTRANSIGENCE Shishakli and the Druzes: Integration and Intransigence]," in The Syrian Land: Processes of Integration and Fragmentation. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998: 369-396 *[http://www.crethiplethi.com/syria-and-the-1948-war-in-palestine-part-1/islamic-countries/syria-islamic-countries/2010/ Syria and the 1948 War in Palestine] A shorter version of this article was published as “Syria in the 1948 Palestine War: Fighting King Abdullah’s Greater Syria Plan,” in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim, eds., Rewriting the Palestine War: 1948 and the History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 178–205. (Translated into French, Spanish and Arabic) *"[https://ou.academia.edu/JoshuaLandis/Papers/291501/Early-U-S--Policy-toward-Palestinian-Refugees--1949-1954--The-Syria-Option Early U.S. Policy toward Palestinian Refugees: the Syria Option]," in The Palestinian Regugees: Old Problems - New Solutions, eds. Joseph Ginat and Edward J. Perkins, University of Oklahoma Press: Norman OK, 2001, pp. 77–87. *[https://ou.academia.edu/JoshuaLandis/Papers/290485/Islamic-Education-In-Syria--Undoing-Secularism Islamic Education In Syria: Undoing Secularism] in Eleanor Doumato and Gregory Starrett, Eds., Teaching Islam: Textbooks and Religion in the Middle East, London & Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2007, pp. 177–196. *"[https://ou.academia.edu/JoshuaLandis/Papers/290482/The-Syrian-Opposition The Syrian Opposition],” The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 30, pp. 45–68. 2007. (written with Joe Pace) *"[https://ou.academia.edu/JoshuaLandis/Papers/307874/The-Syrian-Opposition--The-struggle-for-unity-and-relevance--2003%E2%80%932008 The Syrian Opposition: The struggle for unity and relevance, 2003–2008]," in Fred Lawson, ed., ''Demystifying Syria,'' Saqi Books, 2009, pp. 120–143. (written with Joe Pace) *"[http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/05/11/will_failure_to_solve_the_arab_israeli_conflict_mean_a_new_cold_war_in_the_middle_e Will failure to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict mean a new Cold War in the Middle East]?" Foreign Policy - Middle East Channel, Tuesday, May 11, 2010 *"[https://ou.academia.edu/JoshuaLandis/Papers/307858/The-U-S--Syria-Relationship--A-Few-Questions The U.S.-Syria Relationship: A Few Questions]," Middle East Policy, Vol. XVII, No. 3, Fall 2010, pp. 64–73.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Landis, Joshua}} Category:Middle Eastern studies scholars Category:Middle Eastern studies in the United States Category:University of Oklahoma faculty Category:Swarthmore College alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Princeton University alumni Category:1957 births Category:Living people