Michael Collins Dunn

Michael Collins Dunn (September 17, 1947 – March 20, 2023) was an American scholar specializing in the Egypt; security, military, and energy affairs; and Islam; and who served for two decades as editor of the Middle East Journal, primary and peer-reviewed academic journal on the Middle East, published by the Middle East Institute, as well at the bi-weekly newsletter The Estimate.

Background Michael Collins Dunn descended from Henry Collins (1795–1860). Dunn received his doctorate from Georgetown University, from which he also received his BA and MA.

Career

Dunn was both an academic and a professional. As academic, he was a professor and lecturer at numerous universities, including Utah State University (1977–1978) and the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (1983–1991) . As professional, he consulted to oil and defense companies.

In 1989, Dunn co-founded and ran The Estimate, a newsletter on political and security intelligence of the Middle East and East Asia, which occasionally published a four-page Dossier on specific topics through the mid-2010s. Upon his death, the Middle East Institute stated: His tenure as Editor saw the Journal shift from a print-only publication to being included in electronic library databases, where it is now read hundreds of thousands times annually. He was an exceptionally kind man with a vast knowledge of the region's history and cultures, which he always enjoyed sharing. Renaissance or radicalism ? Political islam. The case of Tunisia's al-Nahda (1992)

Chapters "The Arab World and the Kurds" in Kurdish Identity: Human Rights and Political Status (2007) "US Relations with Egypt: An Overview" in Handbook of US-Middle East Relations (2009)

Articles "The Wrong Place, the Wrong Time: Why Yemeni Unity Failed," Middle East Policy (June 1994) "Death of Samaritans' High Priest," Middle East Institute Editor's Blog (2010) "Coptic Church's Synod Recognizes Two Modern Saints," Middle East Journal, Editor's Blog (2013) "The Fall of Zaki Badr: A Victory for Egypt's Opposition Press," Washington Report (2013) "Military High-Tech," Journal of Palestine Studies (December 2020)