John G. Heidenrich

Strategic Intelligence

A renowned expert in strategic intelligence matters, John G. Heidenrich has long advocated an analytical approach that is “holistic” (comprehensive) by assessing the interactions of political, military/security, socio-cultural, economic, technological, and environmental variables. His analytical reports and studies over the years have focused on almost every region of the globe, as well as functional areas ranging from ethnic/religious conflict and genocide, to terrorism and guerrilla insurgency, to conventional military forces, to proliferation dangers involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to arms control treaties, to foreign espionage campaigns, to drug and human trafficking, to energy and water security issues, to environmental issues and their geo-strategic ramifications. He is a longtime expert at collecting and utilizing open source intelligence (OSINT), whether for governmental or private sector purposes.

Over a career spanning more than twenty-five years, via government service or private consulting, Mr. Heidenrich has worked with nearly every agency of the U.S. Intelligence Community, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the respective intelligence organizations of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Coast Guard’s. Other past partners of his include the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the U.S. military’s European, Central, Strategic, and Special Operations Commands (EUCOM, CENTCOM, STRATCOM, and SOCOM, respectively).

Mr. Heidenrich is the author of the book How To Prevent Genocide: A Guide for Policymakers, Scholars, and the Concerned Citizen (Praeger, 2001). Its research was funded in part by a U.S. Government grant, and many readers consider it the definitive work on the subject. Ascertaining how to prevent genocidal violence requires a substantive understanding of every social science and how they interact. To that end, the book integrates concepts from political science, international relations, sociology, psychology, economics, history, anthropology, and social-biology (a.k.a. evolutionary psychology), along with an in-depth understanding of bureaucratic behavior, governmental decision-making, international law and diplomacy, military science, the pros and cons of peacekeeping and stability operations, and how violent political instability — such as a genocide — can be forecast from indications months or even years in advance.

In 2007, Mr. Heidenrich published a provocative essay in the CIA-published journal Studies in Intelligence, entitled “The Intelligence Community’s Neglect of Strategic Intelligence.” The essay is unclassified and online. Despite its provocative title, many CIA senior officials quietly agreed with it and the Agency published it in that edition of Studies which commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Agency’s creation. The essay has since become required reading in several universities’ courses about intelligence work, and at the CIA Sherman Kent School for Intelligence Analysis, which trains new CIA analysts.

Think-tanks and research institutes Mr. Heidenrich has worked with include the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Institute of Religion and Public Policy, the Institute for Defense & Disarmament Studies (IDDS), and the Center for the Prevention of Genocide (CPG), where he served on its Board of Directors. Private companies he has worked for include Booz Allen Hamilton, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and Open Source Solutions (OSS), Inc.

Mr. Heidenrich holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The American University in Washington, D.C. He has also completed courses at the Harvard Law and Divinity Schools, Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and the former Defense Intelligence College, which is now the U.S. National Intelligence University.

Parallel to his civilian career in 1987-1994, he served as an Airborne (Parachutist) qualified commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Reserve/National Guard, including as a Pentagon Action Officer in the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve (OCAR); as a general’s aide-de-camp; and in units associated with Military Police, Military Intelligence, Special Forces, and Cavalry (Armor & Aviation).

John and his wife Natasha live near Washington, D.C., where his hobbies include creative writing. He is the author of the comedy novel Tongue-Tied With Stomach Knots (An Enlightened Comedy), written under the pen-name Reginald Dipwipple.