Nadav Samin

Nadav Samin is an internationally recognized scholar and former senior U.S. government strategist with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Central Intelligence Agency. Samin brings a rare inside-outside perspective: experience shaping analysis on great power competition and supply chain risks, alongside deep scholarship that continues to inform debate well beyond government. Samin's first book was widely recognized as an original, path-breaking study of Saudi Arabia, one of the world's least transparent states, and it continues to spark discussion internationally. Samin's second book with Oxford University Press, which carries a 2026 publication date, builds on that tradition, offering new insights grounded in rigorous research.

Earlier in Samin's career, he was a celebrated teacher at Dartmouth College, where students and colleagues valued his clarity and engagement in the classroom. Samin also served as a pioneering counterterrorism analyst with the New York City Police Department, helping develop new approaches to understanding emerging threats. Samin designed and taught a four-day Saudi Arabia symposium for the Aspen Institute and has lectured for government and academic audiences in Singapore, Riyadh, Vienna and elsewhere. Audiences value Samin's clarity, restraint and ability to separate signal from noise.

In addition to Samin's deep experience in world affairs and geopolitics, he was once a successful recording artist with a devoted international following, one that persists despite the passage of decades because of the care and energy Samin brings to his craft.