World Threats

Ryan Mauro
Founder, Chief Editor
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Ryan Mauro founded WorldThreats.com in 2003 to promote his analysis and news items that he felt needed more exposure. He is currently the national security analyst for RadicalIslam.org. It is a project of the Clarion Fund, the organization that produced the blockbuster films, “Iranium,” “The Third Jihad” and “Obsession.”

Mauro is a frequent analyst on FOX News Channel and other media outlets, is a consultant to government agencies and an adjunct professor. He writes regularly for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, FrontPage Magazine, Family Security Matters and other publications, including the peer-reviewed journal, Middle East Quarterly. He has been quoted and cited in multiple books and newspapers, including the New York Times and Reuters. He has made over 300 appearances on radio and T.V. shows of both the left and the right.

Mauro was originally hired in 2002 at age 16 to be a geopolitical analyst for Tactical Defense Concepts, a maritime-related security group, believed to be the youngest hired geopolitical analyst at that time. Mauro’s reports were often forwarded to members of the law enforcement and intelligence communities with great response.

In 2005, Mauro published his first book, Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq, which he wrote between the ages of 16 and 18. It focused on the Saddam Hussein regime’s involvement in terrorism and WMD programs, corruption at the U.N. and how Iran and Syria were engineering the insurgency.

In 2006 and 2007, he was selected to speak at the Intelligence Summit, billed as the most prestigious conference of its kind. He often is a guest speaker now for houses of worship, colleges, political clubs, rallies and other events.

From June 2008 to January 2012, Mauro was an adviser on radical Islam to the Christian Action Network.

Mauro has also acted as a volunteer researcher for the Reform Party of Syria and was an intelligence analyst and director for the Asymmetric Warfare and Intelligence Center. In 2009, he was awarded a scholarship to go to Israel for three weeks by Eagles Wings’ Israel Experience program. In 2010, he returned to Israel after winning a two-week trip there from Stand With Us’ Once in a Lifetime contest.

Mauro has a Bachelor’s in Intelligence Studies and a Master’s in Political Science from American Military University.

Matthew Avitabile
Contributor
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Matthew Avitabile is an educator from Upstate New York. He received his MA in European History from SUNY Albany in May 2010. He graduated from SUNY Oneonta in May 2008 with a B.S. in History. He was also head of the SUNY Cobleskill Model UN from 2005-2006. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of History at SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Oneonta.

He is very interested in history, particularly European and Middle Eastern. He also reads much about Political Science. In 2007, he served as a Legislative Assistant to NYS Assemblyman Pete Lopez (127th District). He currently serves as Mayor of Middleburgh, NY, a community recovering from the effects of Hurricane Irene.

Matt has been visiting WorldThreats since high school. He is currently studying Farsi and took Arabic in 2008 (but learned almost nothing).

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, currently reading for a BA in Classics with Oriental Studies.

Trevor Westra
Contributor
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Trevor Westra is a Canadian geopolitical analyst specializing in Middle Eastern and South Asian religious historiography. He serves as a Contributing Analyst for strategic planning consultancy Wikistrat Inc. His writings on Sunni extremism, Shia Islam, and the geopolitics of the Middle East and Gulf regions can be found at Global Politician magazine, the Canada Free Press e-newspaper, and Family Security Matters, among others.