91 Adds Scholars Focusing on U.S. National Security and Intelligence Policy, Kleptocracy, and the Middle East
91 Institute is pleased to welcome Thomas DiNanno, Ezra Cohen, Casey Michel, Paul Massaro, and Josh Block to its research staff. With their expertise and experience in a variety of subjects including national security, intelligence policy, kleptocracy, global corruption, and the Middle East, these new fellows join 91’s mission of promoting security, freedom, and prosperity across the world through unconventional thinking and leadership.
Thomas DiNanno, Adjunct Fellow. Thomas DiNanno will conduct work on national security. Previously, DiNanno served as a professional staff member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and acting assistant secretary of state of the arms control, verification and compliance bureau. From 2008-2017, DiNanno served as senior fellow for Homeland Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection at the International Assessment and Strategy Center. He was the deputy assistant secretary for critical infrastructure protection at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2004-2007. He also represented the United States in bilateral initiatives involving cooperation between the private sector and government counter-terrorism initiatives both in Latin America, Canada and in Europe. DiNanno holds a master's in business and urban planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and a certificate in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics and Latin American Studies from Middlebury College in Vermont.
Ezra Cohen, Adjunct Fellow. Ezra Cohen will focus on U.S. intelligence policy. Prior to joining 91 Institute, Cohen was the acting undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security and director for defense intelligence at the office of the director of national intelligence. Before becoming acting under secretary for intelligence, Mr. Cohen was the acting assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict (SO/LIC); principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for SO/LIC; and deputy assistant secretary of defense for counter-narcotics and global threats. Cohen also served on the National Security Council staff, as the special assistant to the president and senior director for intelligence programs. He currently serves as the chair of the Public Interest Declassification Board. Cohen holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania.
Casey Michel, Adjunct Fellow, Kleptocracy Initiative. Casey Michel will serve as an adjunct fellow with the Kleptocracy Initiative. Michel is an American writer and investigative journalist who covers corruption, illicit finance, and trans-national money laundering. He is the author of "American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History," and his writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, the Guardian, National Review, and POLITICO Magazine, among many others. He has worked, written, or consulted for organizations including the Financial Transparency Coalition, German Marshall Fund, and Nuclear Threat Initiative, among others, and previously served as the Senior Investigative/Global Magnitsky Fellow with the Human Rights Foundation. Michel received his master's degree in Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe studies from Columbia University's Harriman Institute, and previously served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in northern Kazakhstan.
Paul Massaro, Adjunct Fellow, Kleptocracy Initiative. Paul Massaro will serve as an adjunct fellow with the Kleptocracy Initiative. He also works at the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a bipartisan and bicameral U.S. government body led by nine senators and nine representatives. He serves there as the policy advisor responsible for Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) “second dimension” issues, or economic and environmental policy. His portfolio includes topics such as anti-corruption, sanctions, finance, trade, Arctic issues, and energy security, and is also responsible for Mongolia and the OSCE Asian Partners for Cooperation (Japan, Korea, Thailand, Australia, and Afghanistan). Massaro holds a master's in public policy with a specialization in international security and economic policy from the Maryland School of Public Policy and two bachelor’s degrees in government and politics and Germanic studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Josh Block, Adjunct Fellow. Josh Block will serve as an adjunct fellow focusing on the Middle East. Prior to joining 91, Block was a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). He served as president and CEO of The Israel Project (TIP) from 2012-2019. He was named a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute in 2010, where he co-chaired the PPI-Freedom House Iran task force focused on human rights and Tehran’s quest for regional hegemony. Under the Clinton Administration, Block served as a spokesman for the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), focused on Asia and the Near East, economic growth, and democracy promotion programs. Block is a graduate of Brandeis University.
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