Bio

Amy Zegart is the Morris Arnold and Nona Jean Cox Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor of Political Science (by courtesy) at Stanford University. She is also a Senior Fellow at Stanford's Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. The author of five books, she specializes in U.S. intelligence, emerging technologies and national security, grand strategy, and global political risk management.

Zegart's award-winning research includes the leading academic study of intelligence failures before 9/11: Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI, and the Origins of 9/11 (Princeton, 2007). Her most recent book is the bestseller Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence (Princeton, 2022), which was nominated by Princeton University Press for the Pulitzer Prize. She also coauthored Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity, with Condoleezza Rice (Twelve, 2018) and coedited Bytes, Bombs, and Spies: The Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations with Herbert Lin (Brookings, 2019). Her op-eds and essays have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Politico, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Zegart has advised senior officials about intelligence and foreign policy for more than two decades. She served on the National Security Council staff and as a presidential campaign foreign policy advisor and has testified before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.

In addition to conducting research and teaching, she led Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, founded the Stanford Cyber Policy Program, and served as chief academic officer of the Hoover Institution. Before coming to Stanford, she was professor of public policy at UCLA and a McKinsey & Company consultant.

She is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, the American Political Science Association’s Leonard D. White Dissertation Prize, and research grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Hewlett Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Zegart received an AB in East Asian studies, magna cum laude, from Harvard and an MA and a PhD in political science from Stanford. She serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, and the American Funds/Capital Group.

Academic Appointments

Administrative Appointments

  • Associate Director and Senior Fellow, Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute (2023 - Present)
  • Founder and co-director, Stanford Cyber Policy Program (2013 - 2018)
  • Co-Director, Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) (2013 - 2018)
  • Director, Robert and Marion Oster National Security Affairs Fellows Program, Hoover Institution (2013 - Present)
  • Associate Director for Academic Affairs, Hoover Institution (2013 - 2015)

Program Affiliations

  • American Studies
  • Program in International Relations
  • Public Policy

Professional Education

  • Ph.D., Stanford University, Political Science (1996)
  • M.A., Political Science, Stanford University (1993)
  • A.B., Harvard College, East Asian Studies (1989)

Contact

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 6055

Links

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

U.S. intelligence, cybersecurity, political risk, grand strategy

Projects

  • Stanford Emerging Technology Review, School of Engineering and Hoover Institution

    The Stanford Emerging Technology Review (SETR) is the first product of a major new Stanford technology education initiative for policymakers. The goal of this collaboration between the School of Engineering and the Hoover Institution is to help both the public and private sectors better understand the technologies poised to transform our world so that the United States can seize opportunities, mitigate risks, and ensure that the American innovation ecosystem continues to thrive.

    Location

    Hoover Institution, Stanford University

    Collaborators

    • Condoleezza Rice, Director, Hoover Institution

2024-25 Courses

All Publications

  • Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of US Intelligence Zegart, A. B. Princeton University Press. 2022
  • Bytes, Bombs, and Spies: The Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations Lin, H., Zegart, A. Brookings Institution Press. 2019
  • Political Risk: How Business and Organizations can Anticipate Global Insecurity, with Condoleezza Rice Rice, C., Zegart, A. B. Twelve Books. 2018
  • Cheap Fights, Credible Threats: The Future of Armed Drones and Coercion Journal of Strategic Studies Zegart, A. 2018
  • Managing 21st Century Political Risk Harvard Business Review Rice, C., Zegart, A. 2018: 130-138
  • Introduction to the Special Issue on Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations Journal of Cybersecurity Lin, H., Zegart, A. 2017; 3 (1): 1-5
  • The Fort Hood Terrorist Attack: An Organizational Postmortem of Army and FBI Deficiencies Insider Threats Zegart, A. Cornell University Press. 2017
  • Pragmatic Engagement: A National Security Strategy for the Next President Krasner, S. D., Zegart, A. The American Interest. 2016
  • An INS Special Forum: The U.S. Senate Select Committee Report on the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program Intelligence and National Security Zegart, A. 2016; 31 (1): 17-20
  • Insider Threats and Organizational Root Causes: Understanding the 2009 Fort Hood Terrorist Attack Parameters Zegart, A. 2015; 45 (2): 35-46
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis as Intelligence Failure POLICY REVIEW Zegart, A. B. 2012: 23-39

    View details for Web of Science ID 000309851200003

  • The Domestic Politics of Irrational Intelligence Oversight POLITICAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY Zegart, A. B. 2011; 126 (1): 1-25

    View details for Web of Science ID 000288727700001

  • “Spytainment”: The Real Influence of Fake Spies International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence Zegart, A. 2011; 24 (3)
  • Implementing Change: Organizational Challenges Intelligence Analysis: Behavioral and Social Scientific Foundations Zegart , A. The National Academies Press. 2011
  • The Roots of Weak Congressional Intelligence Oversight Future Challenges in National Security and Law Series Zegart , A. Hoover Institution . 2011
  • Eyes on Spies: Congress and the United States Intelligence Community Zegart, A. Hoover Institution Press. 2011
  • Implementing Change: Organizational Challenges Intelligence Analysis : Behavioral and Social Scientific Foundations Zegart, A. The National Academies Press. 2011
  • Agency Design and Development Oxford Handbook o f American Bureaucracy Zegart , A. Oxford University Press . 2010
  • Congressional Intelligence Oversight: The Electoral Disconnection Intelligence and National Security Zegart, A., Quinn , J. 2010; 25 (6)
  • Policy Planning in the Twenty - First Century: Why the Best is Not Yet to Come Avoiding Trivia: Strategic Planning in American Foreign Polic y Zegart , A. Brookings Institution Press . 2009
  • Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI, and the Origins of 9/11 Zegart , A. Princeton University Press . 2008
  • A First Draft of History of the Bush Administration: The Legend of a Democracy Promoter The National Interested Zegart , A. 2008
  • 9/11 and the FBI: The Organizational Roots of Failure Intelligence and National Security Zegart , A. 2007 ; 22 (2)
  • Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC Zegart , A. Stanford University Press . 1999