Biography

Anthony Ruggiero is senior director of FDD’s Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program and a senior fellow at FDD. Anthony’s broad experience in the fields of counterproliferation and nonproliferation spans more than 21 years, including more than 19 years in the United States Government in both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Most recently he was Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Counterproliferation and Biodefense.  Anthony advised the President, National Security Advisor, Deputy National Security Advisor, and White House leadership on a wide range of issues, including counterproliferation, weapons of mass destruction terrorism, non-proliferation, export controls, conventional arms transfers, biodefense, arms control, chemical weapons use in Syria, proliferation issues in Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Ebola outbreaks in Africa, and the COVID-19 pandemic and investigation into COVID-19 origins.  Before being promoted to Senior Director for Counterproliferation and Biodefense, Anthony served as the NSC Director for North Korea.

Anthony’s research has been cited by Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, Politico, and the New York Post. His work has been published in Foreign Policy, The Hill, Newsweek, the Washington Examiner, and The National Interest.

Before joining the White House, Anthony was a Senior Fellow at FDD where he testified before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and appeared on NPR, CNN, C-Span, CBS News, ABC News, and Fox News.  His work was published by Politico, USA Today, The Hill, and other outlets; and cited by various news outlets, including the Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Voice of America, and The Washington Post.

Prior to joining FDD, Anthony spent more than 17 years in the United States Government, including as a Foreign Policy Fellow in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio, as Deputy Director and then Director (now a Deputy Assistant Secretary position) of the Office of Global Affairs (OGA) in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the Department of the Treasury, and more than 13 years in various positions at the Department of State, including as Chief of the Defensive Measures and WMD Finance Team.

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