Stephen C. Coughlin is an attorney, decorated intelligence officer and noted specialist on Islamic law, ideology and related strategic information programs. He is a Visiting Fellow of the National Security Law Project at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.  Mr. Coughlin integrates experience in international law, intelligence, strategic communications and high-level project management in both the national defense and private sectors to develop unique perspectives, assessments and training packages relating to the intersection of national security and law. 

Often cited as the Pentagon’s leading expert on Islamic law, Coughlin is in demand as a lecturer at leading Defense training institutions, including the Naval War College, Marine Corps HQ-Quantico, and at Staff, Command and Division levels, as well as for the FBI and other agencies and private sector groups. A Major in the United States Army (res.), assigned to USCENTCOM, with a military intelligence specialty, Coughlin has served in a strategic communications role in CENTCOM-Doha. U.S. assignments have included attachment to the Pentagon’s National Military Joint Intelligence Center, the National Security Council’s Interagency Perception Management Threat Panel, and culminating in his assignment to the intelligence staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Coughlin’s work has included counter-propaganda, open source intelligence cell and support of the State Department and other agencies in Strategic Information Fusion, as well as target development in the immediate post-9/11 period.

Coughlin’s private sector career has focused on international law, competitive intelligence and the development and provision of open source, classified and proprietary commercial data and information products and programs at leading publishing houses such as Lexis-Nexis/Reed Elsevier and West Group/WestLaw. He has developed markets in 40 countries, served as primary contact for U.S. missions abroad as liaison to foreign ministries and missions. 

Mr. Coughlin holds a Masters in Strategic Intelligence, with a focus on global terrorism and Jihadist movements; and, the JD from the William Mitchell School of Law, and BA degree in history and Russian area studies, from the University of Minnesota. Mr. Coughlin also served on the Board of Governors of the Minnesota State Bar.

Links:

"To Our Great Detriment": Ignoring What Extremists Say About Jihad

Coughlin Thesis, Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence, National Defense Intelligence College, July 2007

Coughlin for Beginners (Counterterrorism Blog)

Muslim Brotherhood Infiltration & Influence in America (includes Coughlin's "Analysis of Muslim Brotherhood's General Strategic Goals for North America" 2007 DoD memorandum)

Quotes:

"Stephen Coughlin is one of the keenest analysts of Islam working for the American government, possibly the very best inside the Pentagon."--Hugh Fitzgerald, Jihad Watch

 

"Steve Coughlin is the most knowledgeable person in the U.S. government on Islamic law"--retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney