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Announcing a New Newsletter From Security Expert Klon Kitchen
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Announcing a New Newsletter From Security Expert Klon Kitchen

Kitchen is a longtime veteran of the U.S. intelligence community.

Dear Dispatch Members,

I write today with very exciting news. We’re thrilled to let you know that Klon Kitchen—one of the country’s top analysts on national security, intelligence and technology—will be joining The Dispatch to write a newsletter covering those issues and more, in an accessible way, starting next week.

Klon is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a longtime veteran of the U.S. intelligence community. He worked on cyberstrategy at the National Counterterrorism Center, as a senior program assessment officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, and as the lead analyst on al-Qaeda senior leadership at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was also the National Counterterrorism Center chair at National Defense University.

Klon went on to serve as national security adviser for U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, where he worked on the creation of the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a blue-ribbon commission tasked with developing an American grand strategy for cyber.

If Klon is familiar to you, it may be because he’s been writing The Kitchen Sync, a smart and incisive newsletter on tech and national security. But he’s also been a regular contributor to The Dispatch, with several appearances on The Dispatch Podcast and The Remnant, and standalone pieces for our website.

The timing is fortuitous. With the prospect of a war in Europe driven by Vladimir Putin’s aggression, an increasingly hostile China, instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and rising tensions elsewhere in the world—bringing Klon to The Dispatch as a calm, thoughtful guide through the chaos is a significant addition to the team.

I mentioned in a note last week to Vital Interests readers that Tom Joscelyn is taking a leave through next fall. Klon isn’t joining us to replace Tom but to complement him—and we expect to publish both of them for a long time. As we integrate Klon over the next few weeks, we’ll be sending it automatically to those of you on the Vital Interests list. You can adjust your membership preferences here at any time.

We’re excited about this news and look forward to adding Klon to The Dispatch community. Look for his first newsletter next Thursday.

Cheers,
Steve

Steve Hayes is CEO and editor of The Dispatch, based in Annapolis, Maryland. Prior to co-founding the company in 2019, he worked at The Weekly Standard for 18 years, covering Washington, politics, and national security. Steve is the author of two New York Times bestsellers. He also worked as a contributor at CNN and Fox News, and currently serves as a political analyst at NBC News. When Steve is not focused on The Dispatch, he’s probably traveling with his family, grilling, or riding his mountain bike.

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