The Penguin Speakers Bureau

Jared Cohen is author of the book CHILDREN OF JIHAD: A Young American’’s Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East. He received his B.A. from Stanford University and his M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. While at Oxford, he spent substantial amounts of time in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestinian refugee camps, where he looked at youth in the Islamic world and how they view themselves and their changing role in the world after 9/11. In these travels, Cohen has interviewed members of Hezbollah, Fatah, and a variety of other militant groups. He has also traveled extensively throughout twenty-four countries in Africa looking at issues related to conflict resolution, genocide, and democracy.

Jared is also author of ONE HUNDRED DAYS OF SILENCE: America and the Rwanda Genocide. Additional publications include The Passive Revolution: Is Political Resistance Dead or Alive in Iran (Hoover Digest, 2005), Iran’’s Young Opposition (SAIS Review, 2006), and a forthcoming article on the “War of Ideas” to be published in Policy Review in the autumn of 2008.

Jared frequently appears in the media: He has been featured in The New Yorker and has appeared on The Colbert Report, CNN, ABC, Headline News, Current TV, NPR, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, and a variety of other TV and radio programs both domestic and international. He is frequently asked to speak at domestic and international conferences hosted by think tanks, the public sector, the military, the private sector, and foundations. He has also served as a judge at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Cohen is fluent in Swahili and has studied Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, Maa, Kilarusa, and Korean. In his spare time, Cohen paints, draws, and sculpts. Over the years, he has sold his work in galleries and to private buyers.

In 2006, Jared Cohen joined the Secretary of State’s policy planning staff, where he focuses on counter-terrorism, public diplomacy, and some Middle East/North Africa issues.