Addressing the failures that led to the 9/11 attacks spurred change in the U.S. intelligence community, most notably the founding of the DNI and DHS.  Yet early opposition to creating these organizations reminds us that these changes were not inevitable.  The United States has suffered other intelligence failures in recent decades, like the failure to predict the collapse of the USSR, but none has resulted in such sweeping changes.  What forces led the country to create DHS and the DNI?  How did the Bush Administration choose the shape these organizations would take?  Did the historical experience of the intelligence community influence this process?  To discuss these questions and more, please join Dr. John Gannon, Senior Vice President for Global Analysis at BAE Systems and former chairman of National Intelligence Council.

To attend, please register by emailing events@ypfp.org [1] with your name and affiliation .  

John Gannon

Dr. John Gannon is vice-president for Global Analysis at BAE Systems. He joined BAE Systems after serving as Staff Director of the House Homeland Security Committee, the first new committee established by Congress in more than thirty years. In 2002-2003, he was a team leader in the White House's Transitional Planning Office for the Department of Homeland Security.

He served previously in the senior-most analytic positions in the Intelligence Community, including CIA's Director of European Analysis, Deputy Director for Intelligence, Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, and Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production. In the private sector, he developed the analytic workforce for Intellibridge Corporation, a web-based provider of outsourced analysis for government and corporate clients. Gannon served as a naval officer in Southeast Asia and later in several Naval Reserve commands; retiring as a Captain.

Dr. Gannon holds a bachelor's degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., and master's and doctorate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. His graduate studies focused on Latin America, and his doctoral dissertation documented the evolution of political parties in Jamaica. He speaks Spanish.  He is an adjunct professor in the National Security Studies Program at Georgetown University.