The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Richard Alan Clarke is an American national security expert, novelist, and former government official. He served as the Counterterrorism Czar for the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-Terrorism for the United States between 1998 and 2003.
Robert Rand Brittingham Beers is an American government official. He served as Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President of the United States during the Barack Obama administration. He also served as acting Secretary of Homeland Security following the resignation of Secretary Janet Napolitano on September 6, 2013 until Jeh Johnson assumed that office on December 23, 2013.
The Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CT) is a bureau of the United States Department of State. It coordinates all U.S. government efforts to improve counterterrorism cooperation with foreign governments and participates in the development, coordination, and implementation of American counterterrorism policy.
Richard Miniter is an American investigative journalist and author whose articles have appeared in Politico, The New York Times, The Washington Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, The New Republic, National Review, PJ Media, and Reader’s Digest. A former editorial writer and columnist for The Wall Street Journal in Europe, as well as a member of the investigative reporting team of the Sunday Times of London, he is currently the National Security columnist for Forbes. He also authored three New York Times best-selling books, Losing bin Laden, Shadow War, Leading From Behind, and most recently Eyes On Target. In April 2014, Miniter was included by CSPAN's Brian Lamb in his book Sundays At Eight, as one of Lamb's top 40 book author interviews of the past 25 years for Miniter's investigative work on 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
Juan Carlos Zarate is an American attorney and security advisor who served as the deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism during the George W. Bush administration. He is the chairman and co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Michael A. Sheehan was an American author and former government official and military officer. He was a Distinguished Chair at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York and a terrorist analyst for NBC News.
Matthew Levitt is an American political scientist. He is an expert in Hamas.
Jeremy B. Bash is an American lawyer. He was the chief of staff at the Central Intelligence Agency (2009–2011) and the U.S. Department of Defense (2011–2013) under President Barack Obama. As a senior advisor to Leon Panetta in both roles, Bash worked on a number of key initiatives, including the creation of a new defense strategy, formation of two defense budgets, counterterrorism operations, a new cyber strategy, and a range of sensitive intelligence operations.
Evelyn Nicolette Farkas is an American national security advisor, author, and foreign policy analyst. She is the current executive director of the McCain Institute, a nonprofit focused on democracy, human rights, and character-driven leadership.
Presidential Decision Directive 62 (PDD-62), titled Combating Terrorism, was a Presidential Decision Directive (PDD), signed on May 22, 1998 by President Bill Clinton. It identified the fight against terrorism a top national security priority.
Matthew Glen Olsen is an American attorney who has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division since 2021. He is the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
Bruce R. Hoffman is an American political analyst. He specializes in the study of terrorism, counter-terrorism, insurgency, and counter-insurgency. Hoffman serves as the Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security on the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a professor at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University. In addition, he is the Professor Emeritus and Honorary Professor of Terrorism Studies at the University of St Andrews, and is the George H. Gilmore Senior Fellow at the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center. He identifies as a Zionist.
The Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL), formerly known as the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT), is a multidisciplinary research institute based in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the Syracuse University College of Law. SPL was established in 2003 by Prof. William C. Banks with the goal of supporting an interdisciplinary approach to national security and counterterrorism law and policy.
Daniel L. Byman is a researcher on terrorism, Counterterrorism and the Middle East. Dr. Byman is a Professor in Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and Director of Georgetown's Security Studies Program He is a former Vice-Dean of the school.
James Edgar Baker is an American attorney, judge, and academic. He is the former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He was appointed to the Court on September 19, 2000, by President Bill Clinton, and became its Chief Judge upon the expiration of Andrew S. Effron's term on September 30, 2011. He is currently a professor of Law and Public Administration at Syracuse University and Director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law. Baker is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.
Nicholas J. Rasmussen is the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), a United States government organization. He was sworn in on December 18, 2014 and was replaced by Russell Travers on December 24, 2017.
Christopher P. Costa is a retired US Army intelligence officer with 34 years of service, culminating in his role as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, White House. He is now the executive director of the International Spy Museum.
Joshua Geltzer is an American lawyer and national security expert. He currently serves as Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States Joe Biden, Deputy White House Counsel, & Legal Adviser to the United States National Security Council.