Steve R. Pieczenik () (born December 7, 1943) is a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

-American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

theorist A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...

,. He is a former consultant of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

. Pieczenik has made several appearances on

InfoWars ''InfoWars'' is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC. Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in studi ...

. He also claimed that the

September 11 Attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and the

Sandy Hook Shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and th ...

were

false flag operations A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

Early life and education

Pieczenik was born in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

on December 7, 1943, to Russian-Polish parents, and spent his early childhood in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. His father, a doctor from Dombrovicz who studied and worked in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, fled to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His mother, a

Russian Jew The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

from

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

, fled Europe after much of her family was killed. The couple met in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and relocated to Toulouse, France. After living in Toulouse for six years, Pieczenik's family migrated to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, where Pieczenik was born, and then to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where they settled in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At the age of 16, Pieczenik received a scholarship to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he graduated with a BA degree in pre-medicine and psychology in 1964. He later received his M.D. from

Cornell University Medical College The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York. Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with New ...

. He earned a PhD in international relations from MIT while studying at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. During his psychiatry residency at Harvard, Pieczenik was awarded the Harry E. Solomon award for his paper "The hierarchy of ego-defence mechanisms in foreign policy decision making". Pieczenik is fluent in five languages, including Russian, Spanish and French.

Career

Civil service

In 1974, Pieczenik joined the

as a consultant assisting in the restructuring of the Office for the Prevention of Terrorism. In 1976, he was made

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs ...

under

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

Cyrus Vance Cyrus Roberts Vance Sr. (March 27, 1917January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United States Deputy Secretary of ...

and

James Baker James Addison Baker III (born April 28, 1930) is an American attorney, diplomat and statesman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 10th White House Chief of Staff and 67th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President ...

. He also served the presidential administrations of

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

in this role. At the Department of State, Pieczenik served as a "specialist on hostage taking". He was credited with devising successful negotiating strategies and tactics, which were used in several high-profile hostage situations, such as the 1976

TWA Flight 355 TWA Flight 355 was a domestic Trans World Airlines flight that was hijacked on September 10, 1976 by five "Fighters for Free Croatia", a group seeking Croatian independence from Yugoslavia. In a coincidence, the incident occurred on the same d ...

hostage situation and the 1977 kidnapping of the son of Cyprus's president. Pieczenik also worked "side by side" with Police Chief Maurice J. Cullinane in the Washington, D.C. command center of Mayor

Walter Washington Walter Edward Washington (April 15, 1915 – October 27, 2003) was an American civil servant and politician. After a career in public housing, Washington was the chief executive of Washington, D. C. from 1967 to 1979, serving as the first a ...

during the

1977 Hanafi Siege The 1977 Hanafi Siege occurred on March 9–11, 1977 when three buildings in Washington, D.C. were seized by 12 Hanafi Movement gunmen. The gunmen were led by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who wanted to bring attention to the murder of his family in 1 ...

. On March 16, 1978, Pieczenik was a special envoy in Italy for President Carter to assist in

the search ''The Search'' is a 1948 American film directed by Fred Zinnemann that tells the story of a young Auschwitz survivor and his mother who search for each other across post-World War II Europe. It stars Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Jarmila Novotn ...

for Italy's former Prime Minister

Aldo Moro Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July ...

. As an international crisis manager and hostage negotiator, Pieczenik worked with

Francesco Cossiga Francesco Maurizio Cossiga (; sc, Frantziscu Maurìtziu Còssiga, ; 1928 – 2010)
. was an Italian pol ...

, the interior minister of Italy, on negotiations for Moro’s release. The role Pieczenik played in these negotiations is said to have been fraught with controversy. Pieczenik said the committee was jolted into action by the fear that Moro would reveal state secrets in an attempt to free himself. Moro's widow, Eleonora, later said Henry Kissinger had allegedly warned her husband against his strategy of Historic Compromise (''Compromesso Storico''), allegedly saying, "you will pay dearly for it”. The leak of a false statement saying that Moro was dead was attributed to the Red Brigades (the group that had kidnapped Moro); however, in a documentary, Cossiga admitted the committee had made the decision to release the statement. Pieczenik stated that this had a dual purpose: to prepare the Italian public for the worst and to let the Red Brigades know that the state considered Moro dead, and therefore would not negotiate for him. Pieczenik said that Moro had been "sacrificed" for Italy's "stability". Pieczenik claims to have been at

Camp David Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States of America. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about north-northwe ...

on September 17, 1978, for the signing of the

Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retrea ...

, working out strategy and tactics based on psychopolitical dynamics. In 1979, Pieczenik resigned as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State over the handling of the Iranian hostage crisis.

Post-civil service

In the early 1980s, Pieczenik wrote an article for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' in which he claimed to have heard a senior U.S. official in the Department of State Operations Center give permission for the attack that led to the death of U.S. Ambassador

Adolph Dubs Adolph Dubs (August 4, 1920 – February 14, 1979), also known as Spike Dubs, was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan from May 13, 1978, until his death in 1979. He was killed during a rescue attem ...

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, Afghanistan, in 1979. In 1982, Pieczenik was mentioned in an article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "a psychiatrist who has treated C.I.A. employees". In a personal capacity, Pieczenik had been affiliated as a psychiatrist with the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

. In 2001, Pieczenik operated as chief executive officer of

Strategic Intelligence Strategic intelligence (STRATINT) pertains to the collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence that is required for forming policy and military plans at the national and international level. Much of the information needed for ...

Associates, a consulting firm. As recently as October 6, 2012, Pieczenik was listed as a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

(CFR). However, sometime between October 6 and November 18, 2012, his name was removed from the CFR roster. Since 1979, Pieczenik has also consulted with the

United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American Federal government of the United States, federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individual ...

and the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...

and lectured at the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

Writing

Pieczenik has made a number of ventures into fiction, as both an author and as a business partner of

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

. He co-authored the book ''Divide and Conquer''. Pieczenik also received credit as co-creator for two of Tom Clancy’s best-selling novels '' Op-Center'' and ''

Net Force Net Force may refer to: * Net force, the overall force acting on an object * ''NetForce'' (film), a 1999 American television film * Tom Clancy's Net Force, a novel series * Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers or Ne ...

''. Pieczenik has been credited under the pseudonym Alexander Court for writing the novels ''Active Measures'' (2001), and ''Active Pursuit'' (2002). He has written two articles published in the ''American Intelligence Journal'', a peer-reviewed journal issued by the National Military Intelligence Association. Pieczenik co-authored a paper with John Neustadt which appeared in the July 2008 issue of ''Molecular Nutrition & Food Research''.

Controversies

In 1992, Pieczenik told ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' that in his “professional opinion,” President George H. W. Bush was "clinically depressed". As a result of this statement, Pieczenik was brought up on ethics charges before the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...

and reprimanded. He then quit the APA.

Claims made on InfoWars

Pieczenik has appeared multiple times on ''

'', the flagship radio program of

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

, where he has made numerous false statements, including that the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...

was a

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

operation. He has also claimed that the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

were conducted by

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agents. After the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

, Pieczenik appeared on InfoWars claiming that the Trump administration had permitted the Democratic Party to engage in election fraud as a "sting operation" facilitated by a "QFS blockchain encryption code" on every ballot.

Bibliography

Authored novels

*''Mind Palace'' (1985) *''Blood Heat'' (1989) *''Hidden Passions'' (1991) *''Maximum Vigilance'' (1993) *''Pax Pacifica'' (1995) *''State of Emergency'' (1997)' *''Active Measures'' (as Alexander Court, 2001) *''Active Pursuit'' (as Alexander Court, 2002) *''My Beloved Talleyrand'' (2005) *''Terror Counter Terror'' (2007) *''Steve Pieczenik Talks'' (2014) * ''American Warrior in Crises'' (2019)

Series co-creator with Tom Clancy

*''

Tom Clancy's Op-Center ''Tom Clancy's Op-Center'' is a novel series, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik, though the first 12 books were written by Jeff Rovin between 1995 and 2005. The four books in the series reboot from 2014 are written by Dick Couch, George Gal ...

'' *''

Tom Clancy's Net Force ''Tom Clancy's Net Force'' is a novel series, created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik and originally written by Steve Perry. The original series ceased publication in 2006. There was also a spin-off of young adult books called '' Net Force Exp ...

Other

*''My Life Is Great! Why Do I Feel So Awful?'' (self-help, 1990) *''Foundations and Applications of Medical Biochemistry in Clinical Practice''. With John Neustadt. (textbook, 2009)

References

External links

Official website

Nutritional Biochemistry Inc.
(AKA NBI Health – company co-founded by Pieczenik, and his current workplace) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pieczenik, Steve 1943 births American male novelists American military writers American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American psychiatrists American spy fiction writers American thriller writers Cuban Jews Cuban people of Polish descent Harvard Medical School alumni Jewish American writers Living people MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni People from Havana Tom Clancy Weill Cornell Medical College alumni American conspiracy theorists 9/11 conspiracy theorists American male non-fiction writers American people of Cuban-Jewish descent Cuban expatriates in the United States Cuban emigrants to the United States American writers of Cuban descent