James Blake

Intelligence analyst for The Risk Advisory Group

December 3rd, 2010

Area of Expertise: Terrorism, War and Conflict
Geographical Expertise - Region: Asia, Europe, North Africa and Middle East
Languages: Arabic, English
Field of Work: Think tank/Research center
City: London
Country: UK
Continent: Europe

Email: james.blake@theglobalexperts.org

James Blake is an intelligence analyst for the Risk Advisory Group where he works on a variety of international security issues, including managing WorldAware, a product which informs clients throughout the world on issues of political and security risks. He also initiated the group’s intelligence alerting service.

Mr. Blake has conducted interviews and on-the-ground fieldwork throughout large parts of the Middle East and East Africa. He holds an MA with distinction from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) with a focus on Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and an MA with honours in International Relations from the University of St Andrews focused on international security, particularly terrorism and non-proliferation.

During his time at St Andrews, he combined studying with working at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV), where he held a number of different positions, including as a desk officer for the UK and Ireland. He was responsible for analyzing and assessing the London 2005 bombings. During his time at St Andrews, James was awarded the sole scholarship to study at Washington and Lee University, VA.

While in the US, he worked at former Senator Sam Nunn and Ted Turner’s Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), working on a number of projects including the threat from nuclear terrorism, the Iranian nuclear question, the Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance and pandemic flu preparedness.

Mr. Blake has been learning Modern Standard Arabic for three years.

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