Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Todd Moss

Todd Moss, formerly the top American diplomat in West Africa, draws on his real-world experiences inside the U.S. Government to bring to life the exhilaration—and frustrations—of modern-day foreign policymaking. His new novel, The Golden Hour, was originally inspired by the August 2008 coup d’état in Mauritania when Todd was dispatched by Secretary Condoleezza Rice to negotiate with the junta leader General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Moss is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and has taught at the London School of Economics (LSE) and at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He holds a PhD from SOAS and a BA from Tufts University. Moss is currently Senior Fellow and Chief Operating Officer at the Center for Global Development, a think-tank in Washington DC.

Recently I asked Moss about what he was reading. His reply:
I just finished The Director by David Ignatius, the longtime columnist for the Washington Post. I love David’s books because they are always complex international thrillers about the US intelligence community which draw on extraordinary insider information. In his latest, a new CIA director learns the Agency’s computers have been hacked. Cybersecurity can be hard to make compelling in print, and this wasn’t my favorite of his (that goes to his 1994 The Bank of Fear), but I always find David’s writing intriguing.
Visit Todd Moss' website.

--Marshal Zeringue