Bio

Melvin A. Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, and an adjunct professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University. His 42-year government career included tours at the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense’s National War College, where he was a professor of international security. His books on international security include “A Whistleblower at the CIA: The Path of Dissent;” “National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism;” “Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives are Putting the World at Risk;” “The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze;” “The Phantom Defense: America’s Pursuit of the Star Wars Illusion;” “The End of Superpower Conflict in the Third World,” and “Gorbachev’s Retreat: The Third World.”
He has written numerous articles and opeds that have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, Foreign Policy; Harper’s Magazine; the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; and the Foreign Service Journal. His TV appearances include the PBS Newshour; the Amy Goodman Show; NBC; and CBS. He has lectured at college campuses all over the country as well as to numerous chapters of the World Affairs Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, and various veteran organizations. In 1991, he testified before the Senate intelligence committee in order to block the confirmation of Robert M. Gates as director of the CIA.
Recent News and Latest Book
Israel-Palestine, the Oct. 7 Intelligence Failure, Gaza, and U.S. Foreign Policy w/ Ex-CIA/State Dept. Analyst Melvin Goodman
Happy to be on the podcast Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael recently. A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view. On this edition of Parallax Views, former CIA and State Department analyst Melvin A. Goodman, known for his book Whistleblower at the…
Biden Endorses the “Indispensable Nation”
Too many nations like to think of themselves as a chosen nation or an indispensable nation, but only the United States has the global power and the power of projection to try to enforce its will the world over. The President of the United States should know better than to indulge in the kind of hubris and triumphalism associated with American exceptionalism. The Biden administration is currently having great difficulty convincing the international community to support its policies toward both Ukraine and Israel because many nations have serious questions about U.S. and Israeli misuse of force in the recent past.