Elliott Abrams is a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, but it does not stop nor start there. After serving as President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center from 1996, Abrams served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush, as well the Deputy National Security Advisor, overseeing US Middle Eastern policy for the White House. He later served as Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela during President Donald Trump's first administration until early 2021. His expertise in US foreign policy in the Middle East, democracy and human rights, and particularly religion freedom has earned him a spot in various institutions and projects, and driven his editing and publishing of various books and articles, from The Influence of Faith: Religious Groups and U.S. Foreign Policy to Realism and Democracy: American Foreign Policy After the Arab Spring.