Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Dr. Sebastian Gorka is an internationally recognized authority on issues of national security, terrorism, and democratization, having worked in government and the private and NGO sectors in Europe and the United States. He was born in the U.K. to parents who escaped Communism during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.  A graduate of the University of London and Corvinus University, Budapest, he was a Kokkalis Fellow at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and holds a Ph.D. in political science. He is an associate fellow at the Joint Special Operations University (USSOCOM) and an assistant professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Sebastian Gorka is an internationally recognized authority on issues of national security, terrorism, and democratization, having worked in government and the private and NGO sectors in Europe and the United States. He was born in the U.K. to parents who escaped Communism during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. A graduate of the University of London and Corvinus University, Budapest, he was a Kokkalis Fellow at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and holds a Ph.D. in political science. He is an associate fellow at the Joint Special Operations University (USSOCOM) and an assistant professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

In the past, Sebastian has acted as a consultant to the RAND Corporation's Washington office and was the first director of the Institute for Democracy and International Security. After September 11, 2001, he spent four years as adjunct professor for Terrorism and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany. He has published more than 120 monographs, book chapters and articles, many for the JANES Group of the U.K., and appears regularly in the international press, including the Financial Times, the BBC, Reuters, the Washington Post, EuroNews and Newsweek. Dr. Gorka advises and briefs at the highest levels to U.S. Special Operations Command, SOUTHCOM and NATO. He is a frequent guest lecturer at institutions such the FBI's International Law Enforcement Academy, USMA West Point and the School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth. Most recently, he advised the Office of the Secretary of Defense regarding the latest draft guidance from Secretary Gates on U.S. Strategic Communications.

Sebastian is a founding member of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs and a member of the Strategic Advisers' Group of the Atlantic Council of the United States.  He is also the Director of FDD’s National Security Fellows Program.