Meet Douglas London

Douglas London, author of “The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence,” Hachette Books, September 28, 2021, is a 34-year veteran of CIA’s Clandestine Service who retired in 2019. Mr. London spent the majority of his career overseas and served extensively across the Middle East, South Asia, the former Soviet republics and Africa, including three assignments as a Chief of Station and one as a CIA Base Chief in a conflict zone. In addition to his overseas experience, Mr. London was a CIA subject matter expert in counterterrorism, counterintelligence, Iran, cyber and hostile environment operations in denied areas. He also served as an intelligence tradecraft instructor. During his service, Mr. London spoke Russian and French with professional competency, and Arabic with limited proficiency.

Since his retirement, Mr. London has taught intelligence concentration courses at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, is a non-resident fellow with the Middle East Institute, and writes on national security topics. He has been a contributor for the New York Times, Foreign Policy, Politico, Just Security, the Hill, and the Middle East Institute. Mr. London has also appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, NBC and ABC, and is frequently quoted by a wide range of national security reporters. He has lectured at universities across the US, Europe and been frequently interviewed on podcasts addressing national security and intelligence issues.