On Tuesday, February 27, 2018, the Robert Strauss Center welcomes Ali Soufan, former FBI Supervisory Special Agent, and Lawrence Wright, staff writer for the New Yorker Magazine, for a talk on terrorism and counterterrorism. The talk is free and open to the public.
Ali Soufan is the Chief Executive Officer of The Soufan Group. Mr. Soufan is a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent who investigated and supervised highly sensitive and complex international terrorism cases. He is a leading national security and counterterrorism expert, and continues to play a significant advisory role on today's most sensitive issues. Mr. Soufan had a distinguished career in the FBI, including serving on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI New York Office, where he coordinated both domestic and international counterterrorism operations. Mr. Soufan's work has also been detailed in several non-fiction books, including The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. Mr. Soufan is an Honors graduate from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania where he received undergraduate degrees in International Studies and Political Science. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Villanova University where he received a M.A. in International Relations.
Lawrence Wright is an author, screenwriter, playwright, and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. Wright began his writing career after returning from his graduate studies in Cairo, Egypt in 1971 and has published an array of award-winning and lauded novels, nonfiction books and screenplays. In December 1992, he joined the staff of The New Yorker, where he has published a number of prize-winning articles, including two National Magazine Awards. Mr. Wright is currently producing a dramatic television series for Hulu based on his book The Looming Tower. Mr. Wright is a graduate of Tulane University, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the American University in Cairo, where he taught English and received an M.A. in Applied Linguistics. Mr. Wright is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Society of American Historians.