Paul Joyal

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Paul M. Joyal (born ca. 1954) is an American security analyst and media commentator who frequently comments on political and security matters concerning Russia and former Soviet countries. A critic of the administration of Russian president Vladimir Putin, in late February 2007 Joyal told Dateline NBC that the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko served as a warning to all critics of the Putin government.^[1]

A few days later, on March 1, Joyal was shot and wounded outside his home in Adelphi, Maryland. Although he survived the attack, he was in critical care with a gunshot to the groin. The Washington Post reports that the attack is under investigation by the FBI.^[2]^[3] Earlier that evening, Joyal had dined with former KGB general Oleg Kalugin; Kalugin (whom the Russian Government accused of being a US agent) later told the Washington Post that he was not sure whether the attack was politically motivated.^[4]

Joyal holds a master's degree in international relations from The Catholic University of America^[5] He was a staff member for the U.S. United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence^[6]

In 1991 Joyal founded a security consulting company, Intercon International USA Inc., which published a weekly newsletter about security affairs in the former Soviet bloc.^[7] He later became a vice president at National Strategies Inc. ^[5]

He has been cited as an expert source by many news outlets, including Time Magazine^[6] and PBS The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer^[8]. His published works include the book Fifteen Years of Espionage (ISBN 0935067140) and "Singling out Arab-Americans," the January 21, 1991, editorial in the Washington Post ^[9]

He has close ties with the government of the Republic of Georgia: in 1998 he acted as the country's first lobbyist to the U.S. Government^[2], and he is listed as the contact for the 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded by former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze.^[10] In 2005 he spoke at the Georgian Embassy in Washington, DC, at the memorial service for Zurab Zhvania, the former speaker of the Georgian Parliament^[11].