EVENT

Chat & Chowder with John Brennan | Undaunted

Details
Date:

February 9

Time:

06:00 pm - 07:00 pm

Event Category:

Chat & Chowder

WorldBoston’s Chat & Chowder features key authors on international affairs in an engaging setting. Even virtually, the spirit of Chat & Chowder persists! We encourage everyone to BYOCB (Bring Your Own Chow(der) & Beverages), and also to join us for the informal post-Chat Chat with WorldBoston members and other friends (separate Zoom link will be provided). Longtime and first-time chatters alike are welcome!

In this brutally honest memoir, John O. Brennan, the son of an Irish immigrant who settled in New Jersey, describes the life that took him from riding a motorcycle and wearing a diamond earring as a young CIA recruit enamored with spy work, to being the most powerful individual in American intelligence. He details his experiences serving under six presidential administrations, three Republicans and three Democrats, and what it’s been like to bear responsibility for some of the nation’s most crucial and polarizing national security decisions.

Throughout the book, Brennan pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of the Agency, describing the selfless, patriotic, and invisible work of the women and men involved in national security. He also offers a rare, behind the scenes look at crucial moments in recent US history, including the first Gulf war, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Arab Spring, the hunt for Bin Laden, the CIA’s controversial use of enhanced interrogation techniques, the Obama administration’s drone policy, and when he first discovered Russia’s aggressive efforts to undermine U.S. national security and interference in the 2016 election. He also reflects on the CIA’s role in the U.S. government, examining the insularity, arrogance, and myopia that have, at times, undermined its reputation in the eyes of the American people and of members of Congress.

Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad offers a rare and insightful look at the often obscured world of national security, the intelligence profession, and Washington’s chaotic political environment. What emerges is a portrait of a man striving for integrity; for himself, for the CIA, and for his country.

John O. Brennan began his government service at the CIA, where he worked from 1980 to 2005 and specialized in Middle Eastern affairs and counterterrorism. He served as CIA’s intelligence briefer to President Clinton, Chief of Staff to then Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, and Deputy Executive Director. Mr. Brennan served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency from March 2013 until January 2017. From January 2009 to March 2013, Mr. Brennan was assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, shaping the U.S. Government’s counterterrorism strategy and coordinating Obama administration policies on homeland security, counterterrorism, cyberattacks, natural disasters, and pandemics.

Mr. Brennan graduated from Fordham University in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He studied at the American University in Cairo in 1975-1976. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, earning a master’s degree in government with a concentration in Middle Eastern studies in 1980. Mr. Brennan currently is a Distinguished Fellow at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School, a Distinguished Scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, a senior intelligence and national security analyst for NBC, and an advisor to a variety of private sector companies.

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