Judith A. "Jami" Miscik (born 1958) is an American intelligence analyst who was also the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
's Deputy Director for Intelligence, the Agency's most senior analytic post. In 2005 she left CIA to become Global Head of Sovereign Risk for the now-bankrupt
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
firm
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...
. Miscik is former President and Vice-Chairman of
Kissinger Associates
Kissinger Associates, Inc. is a New York City-based international geopolitical consulting firm, founded and run by Henry Kissinger since 1982. The firm assists its clients in identifying strategic partners and investment opportunities and advisi ...
, Inc. in New York and currently CEO of Global Strategic Insights, a private consulting firm. In 2009 she was appointed to President Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board.
Agency career
Jami Miscik began her CIA career in 1983 as an economic analyst, working on
Third World debt
The debt of developing countries usually refers to the external debt incurred by governments of developing countries.
There have been several historical episodes of governments of developing countries borrowing in quantities beyond their abilit ...
and the analysis of political instability before leading Directorate of Intelligence analytic programs on economic competitiveness and civil technologies. While at the CIA, Jami ran a complex quantitative and qualitative program to forecast political instability in 40 countries based on 25 indicators. From 1995 to 1996, she was seconded to the
National Security Council
A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...
as Director for Intelligence Programs, where she had oversight responsibility for covert action programs and special reconnaissance missions. From 1996 to 1997 she was executive assistant to
George Tenet
George John Tenet (born January 5, 1953) is an American intelligence official and academic who served as the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, as well as a Distinguished Professor in the P ...
, who in July 1997 was sworn in as director after having served two years as deputy director. In January 1998 Miscik became the deputy director of the Nonproliferation Center and in January 1999 Director of Transnational Issues. Between 2002 and 2005 Miscik served as the CIA's Deputy Director for Intelligence, during which time she was responsible for all CIA analysis and for preparation of the President's Daily Brief, an exclusive intelligence compilation that goes only to the President and select senior members of his national security team.
During the run-up to the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
she was one of a number of CIA officials who pushed back against the efforts to link
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
and
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. In January 2003 she threatened to resign in protest of the pressure exerted by
Scooter Libby
Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby (born August 22, 1950) is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney known for his high-profile indictment.
From 2001 to 2005, Libby held the offices of Assistant to the Vice President ...
, then the chief of staff to Vice President
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
. In February 2005, she joined the exodus of senior CIA officials that followed the arrival of
Porter Goss
Porter Johnston Goss (; born November 26, 1938) is an American politician and government official who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 until 2004, when he became the last Director of Central Intelligen ...
as Director of Central Intelligence.
[
]
After the CIA
Miscik joined Lehman Brothers in June 2005, where she served as Global Head of Sovereign Risk and was the subject of a flattering profile in Fortune magazine. Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, 2008, she remained briefly with Barclays
Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services.
Barclays traces ...
,
Seller, P:''Lehman Brothers Presidential Connections'', Fortune magazine, November 25, 2008. which had bought Lehman's North American Business. With the victory of Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
in the November 2008 presidential election, Miscik returned to Washington for a short stint, working on the intelligence transition.[ In January, 2009, she was named Vice-Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc, which she left in June 2022 to become CEO of Global Strategic Insights, a private consulting firm focused on advising on geopolitical and macroeconomic issues.
]
Background and public service
Miscik was born in Chicago and grew up in Redondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach (Spanish for ''round'') is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Sa ...
. She received her B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
with honors from Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...
in Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
in 1980 and an M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in International Studies
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies
The Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver is a professional school of international affairs offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. It is named in honor of the founding dean, Josef Korbel, father o ...
at the University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
in 1982. She serves on the boards of General Moto
EMC Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Pivotal Labs, In-Q-Tel
In-Q-Tel (IQT), formerly Peleus and In-Q-It, is an American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. It invests in high-tech companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with ...
br>
the Council on Foreign Relations, and the American Ditchley Foundation.
Jami Miscik - Ditchley Foundation.
References
External links
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miscik, Jami
1958 births
Analysts of the Central Intelligence Agency
Josef Korbel School of International Studies people
Lehman Brothers people
Living people
Pepperdine University alumni
People from Redondo Beach, California
United States National Security Council staffers
University of Denver alumni