Paul Cruickshank

EMIR Managing Director & Partner

Paul Cruickshank is a Managing Director & Partner at EMIR and a distinguished figure in the field of international security and counterterrorism. He assists clients in navigating geopolitical risks, security challenges, counterterrorism efforts, and anti-counterfeit concerns across the Middle East region and beyond.

Paul works closely with EMIR Partner Aimen Dean on a range of assignments for clients. They can deploy field teams throughout the MENA region, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and across eastern and western Africa to gather on-the-ground information to address counterfeit goods and illicit trade challenges. Their extensive expertise focuses on the most challenging and sensitive anti-counterfeit assignments, positioning them as one of the most effective providers in the Middle East.

At EMIR, Paul and Aimen support diverse businesses, energy firms, traders, financial entities, and more in making informed decisions in high-risk, high-reward markets, with a particular focus on the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries. They cover various sectors, including energy and defence. They assist multinationals in grasping evolving regulatory and political landscapes, identifying key stakeholders and potential strategic partners, and evaluating new opportunities. Their insights shed light on political and security dynamics impacting the Middle East and beyond.

Paul and Aimen assist financial organizations, law enforcement, and regulators in identifying, investigating, and tracking illicit finance. They provide tailored training to enhance Counter-Terrorist Financing (CFT) capabilities.

Since 2015, Paul has served as the Editor-in-Chief of CTC Sentinel, the flagship publication of the Combating Terrorism Centre at the US Military Academy at West Point, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious publications in the international security field.

With over a decade of experience as CNN’s on-air Terrorism Analyst, Paul played a pivotal role in the network’s coverage of al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorism until 2021. He was part of the CNN reporting team that covered the 2005 London bombings and reported on almost every other major terrorism story in the subsequent years.

In addition to his journalism work, Paul is an accomplished author and editor. He co-authored Aimen Dean’s 2018 memoir “Nine Lives: My Time as MI6’s Top Spy Inside al-Qaeda.” The book was critically acclaimed and described as “seminal” and “one of the most extraordinary books about al-Qaeda ever published.” He is also the co-author of the 2014 international bestseller “Agent Storm: My Life Inside al Qaeda and the CIA,” translated into multiple languages and named by The Guardian as one of the 10 best spy books of all time. Cruickshank edited “Al Qaeda,” a five-volume collection of critical writings on the terrorist network published by Routledge in 2012, described as “monumental … the most comprehensive resource published on the terrorist organization and its worldwide affiliates” by a leading terrorism studies journal.

Paul’s research and writings appear in top newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. His expertise earned him roles producing award-winning US TV documentaries. He’s a graduate of Cambridge University and Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He was a research fellow at the Centre on Law and Security at the NYU School of Law and has worked at the European Parliament in Brussels and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.