Clifford D. May is the President of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism created immediately following the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Cliff May is also the Chairman of the Policy Committee of the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD), an international, non-partisan organization based in Washington D.C. comprised of leading members of the national security community. Cliff May has had a long and distinguished career in international relations, journalism, communications and politics. A veteran news reporter, foreign correspondent and editor (at The New York Times and other publications), Cliff May has covered stories in more than two dozen countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, China, Uzbekistan, Northern Ireland and Russia. Cliff May is a frequent guest on national and international television and radio news programs, providing analysis and participating in debates on national security issues. Cliff May writes a weekly column that is nationally distributed by Scripps Howard News Service and he is a regular contributor for National Review Online, The American Spectator and other publications. In 2006 Cliff May was appointed to a Military and Security Working Group of the United States Institute of Peace, an independent nonpartisan national institution established and funded by Congress. From 1997 to 2001, he served as the Director of Communications for the Republican National Committee. In that role, he was the Republican Party's staff spokesman, and appeared frequently on national television and radio programs. In addition, he managed all RNC communications activities, including long-range strategic planning; press, radio and television services; online services; TV and radio coaching; speech writing; advertising and marketing. He also served as the Editor of the official Republican magazine, Rising Tide. After leaving the RNC, Cliff May was named Senior Managing Director in the Washington, D.C. office of Weber Shandwick, a firm specializing in public affairs advocacy, public relations and media relations. Prior to coming to the RNC, Cliff May was the Associate Editor of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado. While in Colorado, Mr. May hosted a talk radio program on the dominant station in the region, and produced and moderated an interview program on KRMA-TV (a PBS station). In addition, Cliff May served as host/moderator for the weekly, nationally distributed TCI cable television series, Race for the Presidency, which featured "resident analysts" Dick Lamm, Gary Hart and Don Hodel. Before moving to Colorado Cliff May spent nearly a decade with The New York Times as a reporter in both New York and Washington, an editor of The New York Times Sunday Magazine and a foreign correspondent. He established the Times' West Africa bureau and, as Bureau Chief, covered more than a score of African nations. Earlier in his career, Cliff May was the Roving Foreign Correspondent for Hearst newspapers, reporting from a variety of global hotspots. During that same period, Mr. May provided special coverage for CBS Radio News and Bill Moyers' Journal on PBS. Prior to that, Mr. May was Senior Editor of Geo Magazine, and an Associate Editor for international news at Newsweek. Cliff May holds masters degrees from both Columbia University's School of Public and International Affairs and its School of Journalism. Cliff May earned his BA from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. In addition, he holds a certificate in Russian language and literature from the University of Leningrad. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2012 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Thu, 03 May 2012 17:33:00 GMT Thu, 03 May 2012 17:33:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ The "fog of war" is a concept derived from the writings of Carl von Clausewitz, the great 19th century Prussian military theorist who recognized that those leading troops into battle often lack data, perspective and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/05/03/the_foggiest_war b28741ca-b51a-45b9-813c-1dadc87b8b95 Thu, 03 May 2012 17:33:00 GMT "The fax shall make you free." Albert Wohlstetter, the great Cold War strategist, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, said that back in 1990. He was right: The advent of fax machines, Xerox copiers and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/04/19/liberate_zones_of_electronic_repression ed871a43-0b40-49a3-ace6-2c5e1e16f162 Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:49:00 GMT The term "Arab Spring" was born of optimism, not analysis. When a downtrodden fruit monger in Tunisia self-immolated, setting off a series of regional upheavals, many journalists, diplomats and academics thought they... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/04/12/its_not_the_arab_spring_its_the_nahda f366c364-e4d5-4fb2-8736-4575d90a47ee Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:32:00 GMT To those who proclaim themselves jihadis, Mohamed Merah is a hero and a martyr. He became a hero last month when he attacked a Jewish school in Toulouse, murdering Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his two young sons, Gabriel and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/04/05/the_messages_of_toulouse 0b946cd4-cde6-4928-a747-c13865951eda Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:54:00 GMT The dictionary defines diplomacy as the "art and practice of conducting negotiations," but one incisive wag said diplomacy is really "the art of saying 'nice doggie' till you can find a rock." So who has the stones... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/03/29/the_diplomats_dilemma 5f54b234-fec0-423d-8113-aefea00e1b97 Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:56:00 GMT Imagine if Pat Robertson called for the demolition of all the mosques in America. It would be front-page news. It would be on every network and cable news program. There would be a demand for Christians to denounce him,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/03/22/destroy_all_the_churches c6cc311d-28c2-4926-bb77-074c113b510f Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:55:00 GMT Fareed Zakaria is wearing his "I'm perplexed" face. On his weekly CNN program, he is noting that Saudi Arabia did not go nuclear in response to "Israel's buildup of a large arsenal of nuclear weapons." So why, he asks... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/03/15/a_guide_for_the_perplexed_fareed_zakaria 10343ac1-6ea4-4e2d-ae83-ef14821b5616 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:46:00 GMT Islamists are a diverse lot. Some are what diplomats like to call "violent extremists." They want to kill you. Others are less eager to shed blood, more confident that by mastering electoral politics, manipulating... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/03/08/how_to_stop_putting_gas_in_the_islamist_tank c76ac737-f5d8-47a2-ad95-50271db8c777 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:19:00 GMT "To the justice of the firing squad!" That was the toast proposed by Stalin to Roosevelt and Churchill over dinner in 1943 in Tehran. They were meeting for the first time and the discussion had turned to the fate of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/03/01/war_crimes_and_punishment 1b02793b-937d-4a4c-977a-f89dc4a60681 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:18:00 GMT The Bush administration waged what it called a Global War on Terrorism. Yet against Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, no serious actions were ever taken. President Obama is waging what he calls a "war... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/02/23/al_qaedas_big_fat_iranian_wedding 15220fd8-bb65-4b69-97ce-7ab46b49bd81 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:29:00 GMT Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, members of the resistance movement inside Syria last week were able to have a secure conversation with a small group of foreign policy mavens in Washington. What they told us... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/02/16/listening_to_the_syrian_resistance 73c3538b-e7df-459f-8cd5-e39b50aa22ee Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:34:00 GMT M. Zudi Jasser is a physician, a U.S. Navy veteran, an American patriot and a Muslim who does not hold with those who preach that Islam commands its followers to take part in a war against unbelievers. The Third... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/02/09/if_you_see_something_shut_up 38f93c9b-d4e5-4a6d-8ccb-b66e44a1db9c Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:36:00 GMT There's pain and then there's pain. Getting stung by a bee hurts. Having a Doberman sink his teeth into your thigh is a more intense experience. By the same token, there are sanctions and then there are sanctions. For... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/02/02/are_sanctions_working 4779d469-145d-46b5-aee8-ec3e63989daa Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:00:00 GMT For 65 years Pakistanis have been conducting one of modern history's great experiments: Can a nation conceived as Islamic be free and democratic-- the vision of Pakistan's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah? Or will... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/01/26/the_haqqani_test_if_pakistan_fails_it_there_must_be_consequences b307e3c4-b5fe-45aa-b9cd-c2d3e732e9de Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:12:00 GMT Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has described the Muslim Brotherhood as "secular." Vice President Joseph Biden recently said the Taliban "is not our enemy." According to John Brennan, assistant to the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2012/01/19/militant_islamism_islamism_islam 413fea8f-e8d8-4051-8722-4a25ae0b2ab8 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT