“The Best Kind of American: A True Story of Murder, War, and America’s
Undoing in the Middle East”
Kim Ghaddas
Journalist & Author
Ever since the 1979 Revolution (and especially so in the present day) America’s relations with
Iran have occupied a central place in the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. In no neighboring
country has Iran’s influence been so destabilizing as in Lebanon. Our November speaker, an
acclaimed journalist and author who was born in Beirut and has reported both from the Middle
East and from Washington, will share the reporting that produced her newest book, whose title is
our program topic (and which will be available for purchase and signing at the meeting).
Kim Ghattas is a Middle East expert, writer, and Emmy-award winning journalist.
She is a contributing writer for the Atlantic magazine, a contributing editor for The Financial Times, and
a regular guest on CNN, MSNOW, and NPR. She was a Distinguished Inaugural Fellow at the
Columbia University Institute for Global Politics. She previously reported for the BBC from the
Middle East and Washington, DC. She is the author of Black Wave, and New York Times
notable book on the Saudi-Iran rivalry, and of The Secretary: A Journey with Hilary Cinton from
Beirut to the Heart of American Power. She splits her time between her hometown in Beirut and
writing desks around the world.