CONTRIBUTOR:

Laurie Van Hook

AFFILIATION:

TITLE:

Independent Scholar

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BIOGRAPHY:

Laurie West Van Hook, J.D., Ph.D., is an independent historian based in Leesburg, VA. She recently returned from four years in Austria and Jordan. Prior to moving overseas, Van Hook worked at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 2005-2009, and at the Department of State, 2001-2005. At ODNI, Van Hook published “Reforming Intelligence: the Passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act,” an unclassified history of the efforts of Congress and the intelligence community to reform the intelligence process in the wake of September 11. At State, Van Hook compiled and reviewed volumes on the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and Europe for the Foreign Relations of the United States series. She has taught Balkan, Hapsburg, eastern European, diplomatic, and world civilization history at George Washington University, the University of Virginia, Trinity University (TX), and University of the Incarnate Word (TX). Other publications include “Ethnic Tensions and the Leadership Vacuum within the Yugoslav Government, 1939-1945” in New Approaches to Balkan Studies (2003) and articles for trade and educational magazines. Van Hook received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, her J.D. and M.A. from the University of Richmond, and a B.A. from Bates College.