Topics by Expert
FDD’s “Critical Issues” series is aimed at providing key background and analysis on policy matters that will be of concern to the 112th Congress and to others in the policy arena. The series supports more thorough in-person presentations available by FDD scholars. National security topics are organized by expert in the menu below. Consistent with our organization’s values and commitments, FDD believes these issues transcend partisanship and require those working in and with government to work across the political aisle when crafting meaningful policy and legislation. Kindly email congress@defenddemocracy.org to set up a meeting or briefing with any of these experts. We hope the material is helpful to you and welcome further exploration of these issues together.
FDD Experts
Khairi Abaza: Senior Fellow, FDD; Mr. Abaza worked for ten years in Egyptian politics and served as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Egypt’s secular Wadf party
- Egypt: Politics and Instability After Revolution
- The Muslim Brotherhood: Understanding its Roots and Revival
- Arab Political Reform: A Critical But Neglected Foreign Policy Tool
- Arab Spring: Opportunity or Looming Disaster?
- Terror Media: Between Free Speech and Incitement
Tony Badran: Research Fellow, FDD
- Lebanon: The Hariri Tribunal and Prospects for Internal Conflict
- Lebanon: Internal Politics, Hezbollah, Role of Iran & Syria
- Syria: The Politics of the Assad Regime
- Syria and Iran: State Sponsors of Terror
- Syria and Weapons Proliferation
Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky: Leadership Council, FDD; Senior International Affairs and Trade Advisor, Baker Hostetler; Senior Fellow, Harvard University's JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Ambassador Dobriansky served as Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs
- East Asia Security Issues
- Freedom Promotion: Democracy, Human Rights & Religious Freedom
- Iran and Human Rights Violations: What the U.S. Can Do
- Europe: NATO & U.S. Interests, European Policy Priorities, and Missile Defense
- U.S. Foreign Policy Issues
Mark Dubowitz: Executive Director, FDD
- Iran Sanctions and U.S. Legislation
- Iran and Human Rights Violations: What the U.S. Can Do
- Iran’s China Connection: Challenges for Sanctions
- Iran’s Energy Sector
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: Director, Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization, FDD
- Homegrown Terror: Present and Future
- Shabaab: From Foreign Fighters to Local Violence
- Al-Qaeda's Financial Strategy
- Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, and the Chain of Terror Finance
Reuel Marc Gerecht: Senior Fellow, FDD
- Islamism and Militant Islam: Understanding the Challenge to America
- Intelligence reform
- Iran’s Green Movement: Challenges and Opportunities
- Iraq: Politics, Security & Radicalism
- Pakistan: Politics and Posturing After Bin Laden
Sebastian Gorka: Military Affairs Fellow, Director, FDD’s National Security Fellows Program
- Afghanistan-Pakistan: Trilateral Relations, the Taliban, and the U.S. Military Campaign
- Al-Qaeda: After Osama bin Laden’s Death
- Counterterrorism and the Terrorist Threat
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC): A Network of Terror
- U.S. National Security and Defense
- U.S. Strategy and Security Issues in the Middle East
John Hannah: Senior Fellow, FDD, Former National Security Advisor to Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Former Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Warren Christopher
- U.S. National Security and Defense
- U.S. Strategy and Security Issues in the Middle East
- Iraq: Politics, Security & Radicalism
- Lebanon: Internal Politics, Hezbollah, Role of Iran & Syria
- Syria: the Assad Regime, U.S. Policy Options, and Syrian Support for Terrorism
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Century of Strife
Rebeccah Heinrichs: Adjunct Fellow, FDD
- Missile Defense: Crucial for America
Thomas Joscelyn: Senior Fellow and Executive Director, Center for Law and Counterterrorism; Senior Editor, Long War Journal, FDD
- The Muslim Brotherhood: Understanding its Roots and Revival
- Al-Qaeda and Iran: Bedfellows in Terror
- Guantanamo Bay Recidivism and the Global War on Terror
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC): A Network of Terror
- Yemen: The Next al-Qaeda Safe Haven?
Jonathan Kay: Visiting Fellow, FDD
- Conspiracy Theories in the Middle East
- Canada and Canada-U.S. Relations
Orde Kittrie: Senior Fellow, FDD
- Iran’s Nuclear Program
- Nonproliferation/Arms Control
- Nuclear Terrorism
- Counterterrorism and International Law
- Middle East Peace Process and International Law
Michael Ledeen: Freedom Scholar, FDD
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC): A Network of Terror
- Iran’s Green Movement: Challenges and Opportunities
Cliff May: President, FDD
- The War on Terror: Ten Years After 9/11
- U.S. Foreign Policy Issues
Emanuele Ottolenghi: Brussels-based Senior Fellow, FDD
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC): A Network of Terror
David B. Rivkin, Jr.: Senior Fellow, Co-Chair, Center for Law and Counterterrorism, FDD
- U.S. National Security and Defense
- Nonproliferation/Arms Control
- Russia: Foreign Policy, Radical Islam, and Domestic Priorities
- Europe: NATO & U.S. Interests, European Policy Priorities, and Missile Defense
Bill Roggio: Senior Fellow and Editor, The Long War Journal, FDD
- The Drone Campaign in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Iraq: Politics, Security & Radicalism
- The War on Terror: Ten Years After 9/11
- The Taliban: An Evolving Enemy
Claudia Rosett: Journalist in Residence, FDD
- United Nations: Corruption and the Need for Reform
- The Korean Conflict: Navigating the Dangers Ahead
Jonathan Schanzer: Vice President of Research, FDD; Mr. Schanzer served as a counterterrorism analyst for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of the Treasury.
- Terrorism Finance: Trends and Challenges
- Hamas vs. Fatah: The Palestinian Civil War
- Palestinian Unilateral Declaration of Statehood: Drama at the U.N.
- Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, and the Chain of Terror Finance.
Benjamin Weinthal: Berlin-based Research Fellow, FDD
- Iran’s Financial Network in Europe