We are delighted to announce that Dr Matthew Levitt will be joining the Centre for the New Middle East at the Henry Jackson Society as an Associate Fellow.
A former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and counterterrorism intelligence analyst at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Dr Levitt is the Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a leading authority on illicit finance related to terrorism as well as the politics of Lebanon and Hizballah, Hamas, and the challenge of countering extremism. Dr Levitt is the author of number of important works on the Middle East, his books include Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God, Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, Targeting Terror: U.S. Policy toward Middle Eastern State Sponsors and Terrorist Organizations, Post-September 11, and Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks.
Dr Levitt, who has a long track record of recognising and focusing on threats to Europe, is joining the Centre for the New Middle East to contribute to our work confronting the threat from illicit financial transactions supporting terrorism, particularly with relation to Europe’s role in countering this ongoing threat.
Dr Levitt’s first report for the Centre for the New Middle East, The View from Tehran’s Twilight Zone, focuses on the issue of Iran’s involvement in the illicit financing of terrorism. In particular, the report explores how following last year’s nuclear agreement, Iran still continues to be involved in illicit financial activities that seek to bypass the sanctions that remain in place on account of Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and extensive human rights abuses.
Dr Levitt will join The Centre for the New Middle East in launching this timely new paper with a keynote speech in Parliament hosted by Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, beginning a series of important debates and publications he will lead throughout the year with Members of Parliament, policy makers, the press, and public as an Associate Fellow at the Centre for the New Middle East.