Michael R. Pompeo as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs at the
U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on August 29, 2019. Schenker was born in 1968 to mother Linda and father Michael Schenker, both Jewish. He grew up in
Ridgewood, New Jersey, graduating from
Ridgewood High School in 1986. Schenker earned a B.A. at the
University of Vermont in 1990, then an M.A. at the
University of Michigan and Certificate, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), at the
American University in Cairo. Schenker is a prolific writer, often on Hezbollah in Lebanon and about Syria. He has written two books,
Dancing with Saddam: The Strategic Tango of Jordanian–Iraqi Relations (2003) and
Palestinian Democracy and Governance: An Appraisal of the Legislative Council (2000). ==References==