Juan Carlos Zarate

Juan C. Zarate is a senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the senior national security consultant and analyst for CBS News, and a former deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser. He advises companies and organizations on national, homeland, and finance-related security, technologies, and investments. He sits on the Board of Advisors for the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the Board of Advisors for Regulatory DataCorp, and the Board of Directors for American Charities for Palestine.

Mr. Zarate served as the deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism from 2005 to 2009. In this role, he was responsible for developing and overseeing the effective implementation of the U.S. government's counterterrorism strategy. He was also responsible for overseeing all policies related to transnational security threats, including counternarcotics, maritime security, hostages, international organized crime, money laundering, and critical energy infrastructure protection. Prior to joining the National Security Council, Mr. Zarate served as the first assistant secretary of the treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes, where he led the Treasury Department's domestic and international efforts to attack terrorist financing, build comprehensive anti-money-laundering systems, and expand the use of the department’s powers to advance national security interests. He also led the U.S. government's global efforts to hunt for Saddam Hussein's assets, resulting in the return of over $3 billion of Iraqi assets from the U.S. and around the world. Mr. Zarate served at the Treasury Department from 2001 to 2005, where he received the Treasury Medal. Prior to working at the Treasury Department, he served as a prosecutor in the Department of Justice's Terrorism and Violent Crime Section, where he worked on terrorism cases, including the USS Cole investigation. He previously worked as a federal law clerk for Chief Judge Judith Keep in the Southern District of California. Mr. Zarate is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University and a cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School. He studied as a Rotary International Fellow at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. A noted commentator on national security issues, with a weekly show for CBS News called “Flash Points,” Mr. Zarate is a recognized author with several publications, including “Harnessing the Financial Furies: Smart Financial Power and National Security,” Washington Quarterly (October 2009); “The Emergence of a New Dog of War: Private International Security Companies, International Law, and the New World Disorder,” Stanford Journal of International Law (Winter 1998); and Forging Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Effects of U.S. Foreign Policy on Central American Democratization (University Press of America, 1994).