Dodgers to Damascus

David Lesch is a modern-day polymath whose life journey has spanned continents and explored cultures near and far. Widely known as an acclaimed scholar, educator, author, and conflict resolution specialist, he has advised four United States presidents and their cabinets about the head-spinning political, religious, and cultural complexities of the Middle East.

Long before, as the number-one draft pick for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1980, he followed his American dream, playing with many baseball greats until a shoulder injury sidelined him. Turning to an academic career, he became a distinguished professor of Middle East studies and was soon tapped by the United Nations, international policy centers, and governments around the world including the U.S. State Department. His work in Syria resulted in a tenuous friendship with President Bashar al-Assad, and many tense situations including a poisoned meal that almost cost him his life. As author or editor of seventeen including the bestsellers The History of the Middle East Since the Rise of Islam, Syria: A Modern History, and The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History he has documented a part of the world that has been shrouded in mystery and plagued by conflict, power struggles, and warfare. Lesch's experiences and adventures offer a firsthand glimpse inside modern Syria and its neighboring countries, with insights into the dynamics between them and their connections to the rest of the world. His encounters with elected officials, diplomats, spies, and conflict resolution specialists have all the elements of a Hollywood thriller, and parallels his own personal story of loss, crisis, and redemption reflecting the universality of life's journeys, wherever they may lead us.