Anthony Ruggiero is an expert in sanctions, illicit finance, export controls, counterproliferation, and nonproliferation. Anthony served in the United States Government for more than 19 years in both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Prior to joining American Global Strategies, Anthony was senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ (FDD) Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program and a senior fellow at FDD. Anthony’s research focused on U.S. sanctions policy; weapons of mass destruction programs in North Korea, Iran, Syria, Russia, and China; COVID-19 origins; and Chinese money laundering organization’s role in America’s fentanyl crisis. Anthony’s research has been cited by Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, Politico, and the New York Post. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, NBC News, and The Hill.
Anthony was Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Counterproliferation and Biodefense (2019-2021). In this capacity, Anthony advised the President, National Security Advisor, Deputy National Security Advisor, and White House leadership on a wide range of issues, including counterproliferation, weapons of mass destruction terrorism, nonproliferation, export controls, conventional arms transfers, biodefense, arms control, chemical weapons use in Syria, proliferation issues in Iran and North Korea, Ebola outbreaks in Africa, and the COVID-19 pandemic and investigation into COVID-19 origins. Before being promoted to Senior Director for Counterproliferation and Biodefense, Anthony served as the NSC Director for North Korea.
Before joining the White House, Anthony was a Senior Fellow at FDD focused on North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and U.S. sanctions.
Prior to joining FDD, Anthony spent more than 17 years in the United States Government, including as a Foreign Policy Fellow in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio, as Deputy Director and then Director (now a Deputy Assistant Secretary position) of the Office of Global Affairs in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the Department of the Treasury, and more than 13 years in various positions at the Department of State, including as an intelligence analyst and Chief of the Defensive Measures and WMD Finance Team.
Concurrent to his role at AGS, Anthony is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at FDD.
Anthony received a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College, a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Duquesne University.