'Wall Street Goes to War' by Dr Sean McFate
All Welcome.
Dr. Sean McFate is an author, novelist and expert in foreign policy and national security strategy. Currently, he is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank. He is also a professor of strategy at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the National Defense University in Washington DC.
McFate’s career began as a paratrooper and officer in the U.S. Army’s storied 82nd Airborne Division. He served under Stanley McChrystal and David Petraeus, and graduated elite training programs, such as the U.S. Army’s jungle warfare school in Panama.
After this, McFate became a private military contractor in Africa. Among his many experiences there, he dealt with warlords, raised small armies, worked with armed groups in the Sahara, transacted arms deals in Eastern Europe, and helped prevent an impending genocide in the Great Lakes region.
In the world of international business, McFate was a Vice President at TD International, a boutique political risk consulting firm with offices in Washington, Houston, Singapore and Zurich. Before this, he was a manager at DynCorp International, a consultant at BearingPoint (now Deloitte Consulting) and an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. He was also a social scientist for the RAND Corporation.
McFate co-wrote the novels Shadow War and Deep Black (William Morrow), part of the Tom Locke series based on his military experiences. New York Times bestselling author Mark Greaney said: “I was blown away…. simply one of the most entertaining and intriguing books I’ve read in quite some time.”
He also authored the non-fiction book The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order (Oxford University Press) which details how war and world order are changing in the 21st century. The Economist called it a “fascinating and disturbing book.”
A coveted speaker, he has spoken at the British House of Commons, top universities and popular audience venues. He has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, BBC, Economist, Vice/HBO, The Discovery Channel, American Heroes Channel and other outlets. He has published articles in Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, Politico, The New Republic, Daily Beast, Vice, Salon, War on the Rocks, Military Review and African Affairs. As a scholar, he has authored eight book chapters in edited academic volumes, and published a U.S. Army War College monograph on how to raise foreign armies.
McFate holds a BA from Brown University, a MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He lives in Washington, DC.
A light lunch will be provided at 12.50pm.
