Dan Senor

Dan Senor is an American author, geopolitical expert, and former senior government official whose career has spanned foreign policy, finance, and media. He spent much of the 1990s working as a staffer on Capitol Hill, later working for Senator Connie Mack III and at AIPAC, where he connected with Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and the neoconservative group affiliated with President George W. Bush. From 2001 to 2003, Senor worked as an investment banker at the Carlyle Group before serving as a Pentagon and White House adviser based in Doha, Qatar, at U.S. Central Command Forward, and subsequently in Kuwait and southern Iraq during the final days of the invasion. During the Bush administration, Senor was based in Baghdad for one year, where he served as chief spokesperson for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. For this service, he received the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service from the Secretary of Defense.

Senor is the co-author of two New York Times bestselling books: "The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World" and "Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle," which has been translated into more than 30 languages. Co-written with Jerusalem Post columnist Saul Singer, "Start-Up Nation" examines Israel's entrepreneurial economy and the cultural and social environment that supports it. The book ranked fifth on the business bestseller list of The New York Times and also reached the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. "Start-Up Nation" inspired the creation of Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit organization based in Tel Aviv. Senor and Singer's follow-up, "The Genius of Israel," explores how a nation of 9 million people, divided by ethnic, religious, and economic differences, has demonstrated resilience to many societal challenges affecting other wealthy democracies, including high life expectancy, low rates of deaths of despair, a young and growing population, and a United Nations ranking as the fourth happiest nation in the world.

Senor has served as an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was also a senior advisor to former Speaker Paul Ryan's campaign for vice president and a foreign policy advisor to Senator Mitt Romney's presidential campaigns. Senor provided coaching to vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan for his debate with Vice President Joe Biden. In the private sector, Senor serves as chief public affairs officer at Elliott Investment Management, where he became a partner and is a member of the firm's management committee.

Senor has hosted investigative documentaries on Iraq and Iran for Fox News and has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New York Post, and Weekly Standard. He started the podcast "Call Me Back," which explores global affairs, economics, culture, and technology, linking current events to their historical contexts, and is part of the Ark Media podcast network. In addition to the podcast, Senor appears frequently on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," CNBC's "Squawk Box," and CBS Mornings. Senor's background in government, authorship, and media provides insight into geopolitics, innovation, and the forces shaping the modern world.