Danielle Pletka

Danielle Pletka (born June 12, 1963) is an American conservative commentator and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). She was the former vice president for foreign and defense policy at AEI and currently holds the Andrew H. Siegal Professorship in American Middle Eastern Foreign Policy at Georgetown University's Center for Jewish Civilization. Pletka worked as a senior professional staff member at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1992 to 2002, under Republican Jesse Helms. She is known for her neoconservative views, supporting the Iraq War, holding hawkish views on Iran, defending the use of torture, and rejecting the scientific consensus on climate change. Born in Australia, Pletka grew up in Boston and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1994. She earned her B.A. in history from Smith College in 1984 and her M.A. from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.