Clifford V. Smith is MEF’s liaison to decision makers and opinion leaders in Washington, D.C. He holds a B.A. from Washington State University, an M.P.P. with a focus on international relations from Pepperdine University, and a law degree from the Catholic University of America. He is a member of the Maryland Bar. An experienced political operative, he is the veteran of numerous campaigns and has held several positions in Congress, most recently communications director for U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer. His writings have been published in the Daily Caller, the American Spectator, PJ Media, and other outlets. He discusses reporting by Benjamin Baird, Islamism in Politics (IIP) Coordinator, Islamist Watch, a decorated U.S. Army infantry veteran and frequent contributor to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, The Daily Caller, and other prominent media outlets. who researches Islamist activity in Washington DC and state capitals across the country, organizes to counter these efforts, and educates the public, the media, and politicians on the threat posed by Islamist involvement in politics. He is
Ben Fishman served from 2009 to 2013 on the National Security Council, where he held several posts, including executive assistant to Ambassador Dennis Ross; director for Libya, where he coordinated the U.S. support for Libya’s revolution; and later as director for North Africa and Jordan. He supported President Obama’s 2013 visit to Jordan and coordinated the $1 billion U.S. assistance package to the Hashemite Kingdom. In 2009, he served at the State Department in the office charged with developing policy toward Iran and the Gulf states. Since leaving government, he was a consulting senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, where he edited North Africa in Transition: the Struggle for Democracies and Institutions. Fishman is an adjunct international security and defense policy analyst at the RAND Corporation. He first worked at the Washington Institute from 2003-2008 where he was a research associate and special assistant to Ambassador Ross