Jonathan Panikoff is the director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Program, where he leads the Atlantic Council’s efforts on Middle East pan regional and inter-regional political, leadership, and security issues. Panikoff served as the deputy national intelligence officer for the Near East at the National Intelligence Council (NIC) from 2015 to 2020. In this role, he oversaw production of the IC’s assessments on the region, represented the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) at the assistant secretary-level for interagency policy meeting, and briefed the most senior policy customers on the region, including the President. Following this role, he led the IC’s analytic support to the 2020 presidential transition before taking on his final IC assignment as director of ODNI’s Investment Security Group, overseeing a team of twenty-six and leading the IC’s efforts on foreign investment. Panikoff holds a JD and MA in International Relations from Syracuse University and a BA in international affairs and political science from the George Washington University.