Steven Kleinman
Steven M. Kleinman has 30 years of operational and leadership experience as an intelligence officer with assignments worldwide and is the recipient of Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency elite human intelligence collector awards. He is a recognized subject matter expert in human intelligence operations, intelligence support to special operations, counterterrorism and counterinsurgency, strategic interrogation, resistance to interrogation, and countering violent extremism.
He has served as a senior intelligence officer for the Defense Department’s special survival program, the Air Force Special Operations Command, and the U.S. Central Command. He is the recipient of the Practitioner Award for 2013 from the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group. Mr. Kleinman is a veteran of Operation JUST CAUSE, Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
Mr. Kleinman has co-authored over two dozen formal papers in the areas of intelligence, the science of interrogation, and the strategy for combatting violent extremism that have been published in professional, peer-reviewed journals. He has also lectured on human intelligence, interrogation, interviewing, and the psychology of persuasion before an array of academic and professional audiences both in the U.S. and around the world. In the course of his research, he has interviewed members of violent extremist groups in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Mr. Kleinman was a senior advisor to the U.S. Intelligence Science Board’s groundbreaking study on strategic interrogation and continues to consult on national-level research into interrogation, intelligence interviewing, and the detection of deception. He has testified as an expert witness on intelligence, interrogation, and detainee policy before the Senate and House Select Intelligence Committees, the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. Mr. Kleinman currently serves on the Science Advisory Committee for the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG).
Mr. Kleinman holds a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University, a Master of Science in Forensic Sciences (Graduate with Distinction) from the National University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, Davis. In addition, he has completed the U.S. Air Force Air War College, the U.S. Naval War College Strategy and Policy Course, and the U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2015 in the rank of full colonel.
Described as an exceptionally compelling, knowledgeable, and insightful speaker. He has spoken before capacity audiences around the world, to include:
International Investigative Interviewing Research Group
Georgetown University School of Law
U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
International Conference on Terrorism and Intelligence (London)
Valparaiso University School of Law
Singapore Home Team Academy
University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies
Interpol General Assembly (Doha, Qatar)
University of Nevada, Reno Graduate School of Psychology
Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, MA
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Distinguished Speaker Series, National Defense Intelligence College
American Psychological Association Annual Conference (San Francisco, CA)
United Nations Conference on Human Rights and National Security, Amman Jordan
United Nations Conference on Human Rights and Counterterrorism, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Roger Williams University
In addition, he has testified as an expert witness on intelligence and interrogation policies before he following U.S. congressional committees:
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The Senate Armed Services Committee
The House Judiciary Committee
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
His interviews and articles have been featured in print in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Newsweek, Forbes, Christian Science Monitor, and the Los Angeles Times. His on-air interviews and commentary have been broadcast on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and NPR.
He is available for speaking and training engagements. Please contact him at sk@deepstrategy.org.