Atlantic Council

Biography

Rudolph Atallah

Rudolph Atallah is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center.

Mr. Atallah is a 21-year veteran of the US Air Force, retiring in 2009 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. His military career included aviation, special operations and intelligence, and counterterrorism. In his last service posting, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Africa counterterrorism director (2003-2009), while also concurrently holding positions as East Africa director (2003-2007) and country director for Morocco and Tunisia (2007-2009). His responsibilities included advising the secretary of defense and other senior US officials on counterterrorism policy and strategy and serving as an advisor to the US Department of State and numerous US embassies across Africa.

He had also previously served as an Air Force defense attaché accredited to six West African countries and director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Orientation Course at the Joint Special Operations University as well as a pilot with over 4,000 flight hours, including combat flight time. At the time of his retirement, he was the only Foreign Area Officer in the Air Force holding three concurrent regional specialization designations: Africa, Middle East, and Europe.

Regarded internationally for his ground truth insights on African security matters, Mr. Atallah is a sought-after speaker and adviser on national security, counter-terrorism, and cultural intelligence issues. He has been a featured guest on programs such as National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm Show and C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, as well as on the National Geographic Channel, where he discussed his involvement in African counter-piracy and the successful resolution of the 2009 Maersk Alabama incident.

A native of Beirut, Lebanon, and fluent in Arabic and French, Mr. Atallah holds a bachelor of science in electrical and biomedical engineering from the University of Connecticut and a masters of science in international relations from Troy University. He is a published photographer of African landscapes and indigenous peoples (www.RudyAphotography.com).