Joseph Zacks

Joe Zacks is a former Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism at the Central Intelligence Agency. As a Directorate of Operations officer, he has been at the forefront of fighting the war against terrorism for over twenty years both at overseas postings and at CIA headquarters. Joe brings deep expertise on national security and provides strategic guidance on how global threats can shape the future.

As the CIA’s Chief of Operations at the Counterterrorism Mission Center he was responsible for CIA’s worldwide counterterrorism operations, including its high-profile operations against al-Qa’ida and ISIS. He has also been a Chief of Station at multiple CIA stations to include at one of its flagship warzone station’s in South Asia. Joe also led all of CIA’s training and educational programs as the Agency’s Chief Learning Officer. He has extensive leadership experience in counterterrorism and counterproliferation as well as regional expertise in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

Prior to joining the CIA, Joe served a full career in the U.S. Army as a combat arms officer. He was commissioned in the Field Artillery in 1983 and served in Korea and Germany during the twilight of the Cold War. Joe taught political science as an Assistant Professor at West Point’s Department of Social Sciences. He served in a senior intelligence role on the Joint Staff and was later the Army Attache at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India.

Joe Zacks is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and has a Master’s in Public Policy from Duke University. Among his many awards are the Army’s Legion of Merit and the CIA’s Distinguished Intelligence Medal and Director’s Medal. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Joe is National Security Contributor for CBS News and holds positions with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Cipher Brief.

Joe is the co-founder and Managing Director of Aardwolf Global Solutions, a boutique strategic intelligence and advisory firm with five practices: geopolitical/geoeconomic analysis; due diligence, investigations, negotiations, and dispute resolution; technology positioning and assessment; cybersecurity and insider threat; and, supply chain risk management. Joe is exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau.

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