Ethan Chorin

Born|

New York, New York

Nationality| American
Education| U.C. Berkeley
Stanford University
Yale University
Occupation(s)| CEO-Perim Associates, LLC
Editor-Africa Review 3 Magazine
Known for| Author and Political Analyst
Notable work| Translating Libya
(2008, Saqi Books-SOAS)
Exit The Colonel: The Hidden History of the Libyan Revolution
(PublicAffairs, 2012)
Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink
(Hachette, 2022)
Website| ethanchorinauthor.com

Ethan Chorin is a Middle East and Africa-focused scholar and entrepreneur. He is known as a leading analyst of Libyan affairs, and for his applied development work in the Middle East and Africa, in the area of environmental science and healthcare.

## Career[edit]

Chorin began his career as a business developer with Shell Oil.[1][2] In 2004 he joined the U.S. Foreign Service, and was one of a small number of U.S. diplomats posted to Libya (2004-2006) immediately following the U.S. rapprochement with Gaddafi c. 2004.[3] He served in Libya as the Economic and Commercial attaché from 2004-2006, and was subsequently posted to Washington, D.C. and the United Arab Emirates. From 2008-2011 he was Senior Manager for Communications, and then Government Relations, at Dubai Ports World (DP World),[4] and was head of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program from 2009-2011.[5]

Chorin returned to Libya in July, 2011 as co-founder of the 501c(3) non-profit Avicenna Group, to assist with post-revolutionary medical capacity-building.[6] As part of this effort, he recruited Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to work with Benghazi Medical Center (BMC, on a program to build trauma capacity in Benghazi.[7] The MOU for this project was signed a day before the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, was to visit BMC to express support for the project the following day.[8] Chorin has written several pieces on the impact of that attack on U.S. foreign policy in the region.[9][10]

Chorin was a Director at Berkeley Research Group (BRG) from 2012-2013, before founding Perim Associates, which advises international law firms and governments. As CEO of Perim Associates, Chorin created the 2015 ministerial East Africa Environmental Risk & Opportunity “ERO” Summit, held in Djibouti, and hosted by the President of the Republic of Djibouti.[11][12] Yale University Climate and Energy Center played a prominent role in the conference,[13] which was highlighted by Secretary of State John Kerry in a Djibouti press conference.[14] He served as Sr. Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, 2020-2021.[15]

Chorin has spoken and testified on Libya before bodies such as the NATO Parliamentary Assembly[16] and the U.S. Congress. He has been a frequent commentator on Libya for the BBC.[17]

## Books[edit]

Chorin has written three books. Translating Libya (2008, Saqi Books-SOAS)[18] is known as one of the most significant English language sources on Libyan short fiction.[18][19][20][21] It is a collection of translations of 16 short stories set in various locations in Libya, interspersed with Chorin’s travelogue and social commentary. Darf Publishers published an expanded edition in 2015 with a foreword by Libyan novelist Ahmed Ibrahim Fagih.[22]”

Chorin’s second book, Exit the Colonel: The Hidden History of the Libyan Revolution, traces the origins of the 2011 Libyan Revolution.[23][24][25] Libya historian Dirk Vandewalle called Exit The Colonel “undoubtedly...the best analytical work on Libya and its revolution for a very long time.[26] "Middle East constitutional lawyer and ex-Lebanese Presidential candidate Chibli Mallat[27] noted that Chorin had “reconstructed the murky events (of the first few days of the Revolution) in remarkable detail.[28]”

His most recent book is Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and Its World to the Brink (Hachette, 2022),[29] which provides the broader context, and details the larger causes and long-term consequences of the 2012 attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.[30]

## Education and awards[edit]

Chorin holds a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in Agricultural and Resource Economics (2000).[31] Chorin received a master's degree from Stanford University in International Policy Studies (1993)[32] and a bachelor's degree from Yale University in Near Eastern Literature and Civilizations (1991), cum laude, with Distinction in the major[33]

Chorin was a Fulbright Fellow in Amman, Jordan (1994-1995),[34] an IIE Fulbright Hays Doctoral Research Fellow in Aden, Yemen (1998-1999),[35] and a Jean Monnet Fellow at the Ecole polytechnique, France (1993-1994)[32]

Chorin has been a Social Enterprise Fellow at the Yale School of Management (SOM) (2012),[5] a Non-Resident Fellow at the Dubai School of Government (2009-2011),[36] He was a member of the 2008 Obama Campaign’s Foreign Policy Advisory Group.[37] He was recipient of a U.S. Department of State Meritorious Honor Award for his work in Libya, and a Sinclaire Award for language achievement in Persian[38]

Chorin was born New York City, and grew up in Berkeley, California. He is the son of mathematician Alexander Joel Chorin and Alice Jones Chorin.

## Books authored[edit]

* Chorin, Ethan (2008). Translating Libya. PublicAffairs. p. 238\. ISBN 978-0863566479.
* Chorin, Ethan (2012). Exit the Colonel. Saqi Books-SOAS. pp. 384. ISBN 978-1610391719.
* Chorin, Ethan (2022). Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0306829727.

## Articles[edit]

* Chorin, Ethan, Benghazi's Karmic Revenge - FORBES Nov 20, 2016
* Chorin, Ethan, “Articulating a Dubai Model of Development: The Case of Djibouti, Dubai School of Government, 2010 (monograph)
* Chorin, Ethan, NATO’s Libya Intervention and the continued case for a Responsibility to Rebuild, in In Boston University International Law Journal, Summer, 2013.
* Chorin, Ethan, The Future of the U.S.-Libya Commercial Relationship, in Vandewalle, Dirk, Libya since 1969: Qadhafi’s Revolution Revisited, Palgrave-MacMillan, 2008: New York
* Chorin, Ethan, “What Libya Lost”, in the New York Times, September 13, 2012 : https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/opinion/what-libya-lost-when-ambassador-stevens-died.html?_r=0
* Chorin, Ethan, The Deeper Blame for Benghazi.” In the New York Times, May 14, 2013: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/the-deeper-blame-for-benghazi.html
* Chorin, Ethan “The New Danger in Benghazi”, in the New York Times, May 28, 2014: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/opinion/the-new-danger-in-benghazi.html
* Chorin, Ethan, “The New Pirates of Libya” in Foreign Policy, March 2, 2015 https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/03/the-new-pirates-of-libya/
* Chorin, Ethan, The U.S. Commercial Guide to Libya, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Commerce, 2006
* Chorin, Ethan, The Graffiti of Benghazi, in Words Without Borders, July, 2011: http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/dispatches/article/the-graffiti-of-benghazi
* Chorin, Ethan, “New Government May Cause Splits”, in Prospect Magazine, August 14, 2015: http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/the-plan-for-peace-in-libya-could-cause-further-splits
* Chorin, Ethan, “Setting the Record Straight on Benghazi”, in Foreign Affairs, February 10, 2010. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/libya/2016-02-10/setting-record-straight-benghazi
* Chorin, Ethan, “A Curious Twist of Fate for Libya and its Rogue General.” Forbes, December 22, 2015: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ethanchorin/2015/12/22/a-curious-twist-of-fate-for-libya-and-its-rogue-general/#4844a28c672b
* Homeless rats: A parable for postrevolution libya | wordswithoutborders.org

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Ethan Chorin". Sep 16, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
2. ^ "Third World countries receive a helping 'hand' - Denver Business Journal". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
3. ^ "Congressional Record, 108th Congress". Congressional Record, 108th Congress, October 7, 2004. October 7, 2004.
4. ^ "Piracy Conference Outcome" (PDF).
5. ^ a b "Fellows". Yale School of Management. 2013-07-09. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
6. ^ "news-telemedicine-retinopathy-screening-libya". optometry.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-20.[permanent dead link]
7. ^ "Speakers - World Affairs Council". www.worldaffairs.org. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
8. ^ Chorin, Ethan (2012-09-13). "What Libya Lost When Ambassador Stevens Died". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
9. ^ Chorin, Ethan (2013-05-13). "The Deeper Blame for Benghazi". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
10. ^ "Setting the Record Straight on Benghazi". Foreign Affairs. 2016-03-01. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
11. ^ "Not everybody is united behind climate risk summit - DJIBOUTI - The Indian Ocean Newsletter 27/03/2015". www.africaintelligence.com. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
12. ^ "East Africa ERO Summit Seen as Important Step Towards 'Paris Climate 2015' – Press Releases on CSRwire.com". www.csrwire.com. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
13. ^ "East Africa and Arabia Prepare for a Shared Climate Future". climate.yale.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
14. ^ "Remarks With Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
15. ^ "Ethan Chorin is now Advisor to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs". ABANA. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
16. ^ press@nato-pa.int. "NATO PA - Responsibility to Rebuild and Greater Attention to the Humanitarian Crises Affecting the Middle East and North Africa Top the Agenda at the NATO PA GSM Seminar in Rome, Italy". www.nato-pa.int. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
17. ^ "Libya: Obama's 'biggest regret', Focus on Africa - BBC World Service". BBC. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
18. ^ a b "translation | The Silphium Gatherer | مجمّع سلفيوم". silphiumgatherer.com. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
19. ^ "Translating Libya: stories of love and hardship by Susanna Tarbush - Common Ground News Service". www.commongroundnews.org. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
20. ^ mlynxqualey (2011-01-17). "Libyan Writing (in English): New, Forthcoming, Beautiful, and Free". Arabic Literature (in English). Retrieved 2016-06-20.
21. ^ "Book review: Translating Libya by Ethan Chorin opens a window into a diverse country | The National". www.thenational.ae. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
22. ^ Starbush (2016-02-05). "the tanjara: Darf Publishers issues new edition of trailblazing book 'Translating Libya'". the tanjara. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
23. ^ "Diana" (PDF).
24. ^ "Ahmed Fagih: After the revolution". Bookanista. 2015-11-29. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
25. ^ editor, Marjorie Kehe, Monitor book (2011-02-23). "7 books to help you understand Libya". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2016-06-20. `{{cite news}}`: `|last=` has generic name (help)
26. ^ Chorin, Ethan (2012-10-23). Exit the Colonel: The Hidden History of the Libyan Revolution. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610391719.
27. ^ "CHIBLI W MALLAT - Biography - Faculty Profile - The University of Utah". faculty.utah.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
28. ^ "Philosophy of Nonviolence". global.oup.com. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
29. ^ Benghazi! by Ethan Chorin. Hachette Books. 2022-09-06. ISBN 9780306829741. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
30. ^ "Libyan National Found Guilty of Terrorism Charges in 2012 Attack on U.S. Facilities in Benghazi | OPA | Department of Justice". Justice.gov. 2019-06-17. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
31. ^ Leusmann, Harald (2001-01-01). "Recent (1999-2001) Doctoral Degrees in Middle East Studies". Middle East Studies Association Bulletin. 35 (2): 279–296. doi:10.1017/S0026318400043960. JSTOR 23063529. S2CID 164423046.
32. ^ a b "The Stanford Daily 11 June 1993 — The Stanford Daily". stanforddailyarchive.com. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
33. ^ "Yale Class of 1991". alumninet.yale.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
34. ^ "Fulbright Scholar Directory | Fulbright Scholar Program". www.cies.org. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
35. ^ "FULBRIGHT-HAYS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION" (PDF).
36. ^ "Global Challenge, Regional Responses: Forging a Common Approach to Maritime Piracy".
37. ^ Not Published
38. ^ "Past Sinclaire Award Winners". www.afsa.org. Retrieved 2016-06-20.

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