Matthew Levitt is an American political scientist. He is an expert in

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

Biography

He serves as the Fromer-Wexler Fellow and director of the Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the

Washington Institute for Near East Policy The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), also known simply as The Washington Institute (TWI), is a pro-Israel American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East. WINE ...

and an adjunct professor in

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

's Center for Security Studies (CSS). From 2005 to early 2007 he was a deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that capacity, he served both as a senior official within the department's terrorism and financial intelligence branch and as deputy chief of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis. From 2001 to 2005, Levitt served the Institute as founding director of its Terrorism Research Program (now renamed as above), which was established in the wake of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Previously, he provided tactical and strategic analytical support for counter-terrorism operations at the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, focusing on fundraising and logistical support networks for Middle Eastern terrorist groups. During his FBI service, Levitt participated as a team member in a number of crisis situations, including the terrorist threat surrounding the turn of the millennium and the September 11 attacks. Levitt has also lectured on international terrorism on behalf of the Departments of

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

, and

Homeland Security Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to ...

, consulted for various U.S. government agencies and private industry, and testified before the Senate and House on matters relating to international terrorism. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the international advisory board for both the Institute for Counter-terrorism in Israel and the International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research in Singapore, and a CTC fellow with the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). He serves on the advisory board of Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance (CSIF) and formerly served on the academic advisory board for the Emirati Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR). Levitt was a graduate research fellow at Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation and previously taught at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. Levitt received his B.A. from

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

. He attended high school at the Maimonides School. Levitt has written extensively on terrorism, countering violent extremism, illicit finance and sanctions, the Middle East, and Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, with articles appearing in peer-reviewed journals, policy magazines, and the press, including the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

'', ''

Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

'', and numerous other publications. He is also a frequent guest on the national and international media, and the author of several books and monographs. Levitt was an expert witness during eight trials against terrorism suspects between 2004 and 2008, including the 2005 trial of

Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad () was a Yemeni cleric who was convicted in 2005 on U.S. federal charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources to Hamas and Al-Qaeda. His conviction was overturned in the Court of Appeals in 20 ...

, Sami Al-Arian, and the Holy Land Foundation. Peled, Miko (2018) ''Injustice. The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five''. Just World Books. . pp.117-121

Books

* ''Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God'' (

Georgetown University Press Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political s ...

, 2013) Reviews: * Ilan Berman, ''Middle East Quarterly'', * Daniel Byman, ''Studies in Conflict & Terrorism'', * Michael Clark, ''Cambridge Review of International Affairs'', * Thomas F. Lynch III, ''Prism'', * Richard Phelps, ''Terrorism and Political Violence'', * Mark Roberts, ''Journal of Strategic Security'', * Joshua Sinai, ''Perspectives on Terrorism'', * Michael J. Totten, ''The Wall Street Journal''

* John Waterbury, ''Foreign Affairs'', * Ido Zelkovitz, ''Middle Eastern Studies'', * ''Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad'' (

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, 2006) Reviews: * Khaled Hroub, ''Journal of Palestine Studies'', * Laleh Khalili, ''International Affairs'', * Sara Roy, ''Middle East Policy'', * Lawrence Rubin, ''Terrorism and Political Violence'', * Dorothée Schmid, ''Politique étrangère'', * Anders Strindberg, ''H-Net''

* SaraJane Tompkins, ''Domes: Digest of Middle East Studies'', * ''Publishers Weekly''

* ''Targeting Terror: U.S. Policy toward Middle Eastern State Sponsors and Terrorist Organizations, Post-September 11'' (

, 2002) Review: * Rita Katz, ''Middle East Quarterly''

/ref> * ''Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks'' (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008) Review: *Asher Kaufman, ''Middle East Journal'',

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levitt, Matthew Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Middle Eastern studies in the United States Yeshiva University alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni Harvard Law School fellows Johns Hopkins University faculty Maimonides School alumni Scholars of terrorism