Chris Harnisch is the Deputy Coordinator for Countering Violent Extremism. In this capacity, he is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to counter terrorist messaging and recruitment, including terrorists’ use of the Internet. Chris also oversees terrorist detention policy.
Prior to his appointment to the Bureau of Counterterrorism, Mr. Harnisch served as the Director for Transnational Threats and the Director for Afghanistan at the National Security Council. A Virginia native, he returned to the area following several years in Silicon Valley where he served as a Strategic Sourcing and Operations Product Development Manager at Apple. Before his time in the private sector, Chris worked in the public policy and defense arenas. From 2011 to 2012, he served as an Army Intelligence Officer on NATO’s counter-corruption task force in Afghanistan. Previous to that, Chris worked on the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, where he researched and wrote about al-Qa’ida’s emerging safe havens, focusing especially on those in Yemen and Somalia. Chris served on the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Chris earned a B.A. in International Studies from Middlebury College and an MBA and M.A. in International Relations from Yale University.
He has published pieces on foreign policy in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and National Review Online, and he has appeared as a guest analyst on various public panels and television and radio broadcasts. Recently, he has worked on initiatives aimed at bridging the civil-military divide, including co-chairing the Veterans Summit at Yale University. Chris is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations.