April 18, 2022
Jonathan Panikoff Named Director of Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative
Veteran intelligence analyst will spearhead the Atlantic Council’s work to advance US national security interests across the MENA region
Washington, DC—April 18, 2022—The Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs announced today that Jonathan Panikoff has been named director of Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative.
“Throughout my tenure in the US Intelligence Community, I had the utmost admiration for the non-partisan insights and analysis the Atlantic Council’s experts consistently conveyed. It’s an incredible privilege to now join the Council to lead the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative,” Panikoff noted.
From 2015 to 2020 Panikoff was the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East at the National Intelligence Council where he helped lead the intelligence community’s assessments on all matters relating to the region. He also previously served as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director of National Intelligence, led the intelligence community’s analytic support for the 2020-2021 US Presidential transition, served as a counter-terrorism analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency and, most recently, was the director of the Investment Security Group at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
“We are thrilled to have Jonathan lead our Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative,” said William Wechsler, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. “He has long been one of the US intelligence community’s sharpest minds on the Middle East and North Africa, and now the wider public will be able to benefit from his analysis,” Wechsler added.
In addition to his expertise on the Middle East and North Africa, Panikoff also brings to the Council his recent experience in leading intelligence support to the work of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the work of the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector. He will lend his perspectives on these subjects to the Economic Statecraft Initiative of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center.
“The Atlantic Council Geoeconomics Center will greatly benefit from Jonathan’s experience with the CFIUS process, one of critical places in the US government where commercial and national security interests intersect,” said Director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center Josh Lipsky.
The Atlantic Council’s work on Middle East security honors the legacy of Brent Scowcroft and his tireless efforts to build a new security architecture for the region. Our work in this area addresses the full range of security threats and challenges including the danger of interstate warfare, the role of terrorist groups and other nonstate actors, and the underlying security threats facing countries in the region.
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