Daniel Benjamin

Daniel Benjamin     (diplomat, journalist, “terror expert”)
Born	October 16, 1961
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University, New College (Oxford)
Religion	Jewish
Member of	Center for Strategic and International Studies, Center on Global Counter-Terrorism Cooperation, Refugees International/Board
Center for Strategic and International Studies, Refugees International, "Coordinator for Counterterrorism"  President  In office May 28, 2009 - December 2012 Employer American Academy in Berlin  Director Dickey Center for International Understanding In office 2012 - July 2020 Employer Dartmouth College  Coordinator for Counterterrorism In office May 28, 2009 - December 2012  Senior Fellow of Foreign Policy Studies In office December 2006 - May 2009 Employer The Brookings Institution

Daniel Benjamin is an American diplomat and journalist and was the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the United States Department of State from 2009 to 2012, appointed by Secretary Hillary Clinton, where he was considered an expert on jihadist terrorism. Benjamin was the director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College. In July 2020, he became president of the American Academy in Berlin, a transatlantic institution in the German capital.

He is also on the board of the intelligence-connected Refugees International.

Early life

Benjamin grew up in Stamford, Conn., one of three sons (William Benjamin and Jonathan Benjamin) born to Burton and Susan Benjamin. His father is an internist; his late mother was a teacher, an administrator at the University of Connecticut and the head of marketing for a Manhattan law firm. They were a moderately observant Jewish family. Benjamin graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude, where he was a 1983 Marshall Scholar at New College, Oxford.

Career

After college, he worked as a journalist for Time (1988-1992) and The Wall Street Journal (1993-1994).

From 1994 to 1999, as a member of President Clinton's staff, Benjamin was a foreign policy speech writer and special assistant. During that period, he was also on the National Security Council as a Director for Transnational Threats.

2006-2009 Benjamin was Director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.

From 2009 to 2012, Benjamin was the US State Department's Coordinator for counter-terrorism, with the rank of Ambassador-at-Large.

Other connections

Senior Fellow, the United States Institute of Peace (2000)

Senior Fellow, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (2001-2006)

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