William F. Wechsler is senior director of the Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council. His most recent government position was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combatting Terrorism. Previously, Wechsler served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury and as Director for Transnational Threats on the National Security Council staff.
Wechsler is currently also President of the Center on Illicit Networks and Transnational Organized Crime and the Treasurer of the American Historical Association, as well as having a separate career in finance. He has been Vice Chairman of Capitol Peak Asset Management and Managing Director of Greenwich Associates.
Wechsler is a graduate of Cornell University and received a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He has been an adjunct lecturer at SIPA and is currently an executive committee member of the SIPA alumni association. He has contributed chapters to two edited volumes and has been published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs and The National Interest, among others.
Avid reader, Will Wechsler shares his more academic picks for a well-rounded knowledge base focused on history and scientific developments regarding people and the world around us. fascinating but densely written, and since I know my friend would like that kind of book I happily recommended it. A few days…
Traveling offers the best opportunities for me to read. My job often involves long intercontinental flights that allow for rare uninterrupted hours to read. Family vacations are even better as I can find time to turn off my phone and sit by the beach or pool with a good book,…