Jason Blazakis

Jason Blazakis is Professor of Practice and Director at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

An eminent authority on terrorism, he devises strategies to prevent terrorists from gaining access to money and publicity. From 2008 to 2018, he served as Director of the Counterterrorism Terrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism, U.S. Department of State. In his former role, he was responsible for directing efforts to designate countries, organizations, and individuals as terrorists, also known as State Sponsors of Terrorism, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Jason previously held positions in the Department of State’s Political-Military Affairs, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and Intelligence and Research Bureaus, and at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

Prior to working at the Department of State, he served as a domestic intelligence analyst at the Congressional Research Service. In addition, he was the national security advisor to a United States Congressional Representative. Jason is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland. He is also the President of Riptide Threat Mitigation Group, Inc., a geopolitical risk consultancy.