About the Author

Amb. Edmund J. Hull is a retired Foreign Service officer and fluent Arabic speaker whose service includes Jerusalem, Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen. He earned the CIA's George H. W. Bush Award for Excellence in Counterterrorism for service in Washington (1999-2001) and a Presidential Meritorious Service Award for service in Yemen (2001-4). Following his retirement, he has taught at Princeton University and he currently consults for the U.S. military. He enjoys offshore sailing and resides in Washington, D.C., when not at sea.

Reviews

"High-Value Target is important reading for anyone wishing to understand the complicated nature of Yemen. I witnessed the terrorist threat there firsthand, having served as the FBI case agent for the investigation into the USS Cole bombing and for subsequent threats and attacks after 9/11. I appreciate Ambassador Hull's efforts to balance very real counterterrorism needs in Yemen with political pressures from Washington that seek to put U.S. counterterrorism emphasis elsewhere."--Ali Soufan, former FBI supervisory special agent-- (4/16/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"High-Value Target is not only a fascinating firsthand account by the ambassador who helped defeat al Qaeda in Yemen the first time but also a playbook for defeating them the second time."--Gregory Johnsen, an expert on Yemen based at Princeton University and author of the Wag al-Waq blog on Yemen-- (4/14/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"[High-Value Target] suggests what much of American diplomacy is going to be like for the coming decades, and deserves close attention."--Amb. Marc Grossman, Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan-- (4/18/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Few Americans know more about Yemen than Hull, who served there in the years immediately following 9/11."--Steve Kroft, 60 Minutes-- (4/17/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Former U.S. Amb. Edmund Hull provides fascinating insights into how al Qaeda in Yemen was crushed between 2001 and 2004 and why it was able to return, with greater virulence, as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in 2009. This book is must reading for those trying to divine what lies ahead for Yemen in a changing Arab world."--Trudy Rubin, Worldview columnist, Philadelphia Inquirer-- (4/15/2011 12:00:00 AM)