Meet the ACNSL Team

Bob McBrien became the Treasurer of the American College of National Security Leaders in September 2021.  He was a leader and innovator in the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions organization, for nearly 25 years. Mr. McBrien is an authority in the employment of U.S. economic sanctions programs and was a participant in the U.S. counter-terrorism program from its 1972 inception to his retirement and in counter-narcotics programs since 1985. 

His career began as a Special Attorney in the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. He moved to the Treasury Department where he worked closely with the U.S. Secret Service, Customs Service, and ATF and began his career-long involvement in the U.S. counterterrorism program and with intelligence issues.  He retired in 2011 after 42 years of government service.  A career Senior Executive Service member, he was the Associate Director for Global Targeting in the Office of Foreign Assets Control.  Following retirement from the Treasury Department, Bob served as a contractor to the Defense Department, advising on sanctions, illicit finance, and countering threat networks. He now consults, provides expert witness services, and serves on boards of advisers to a private sector company and to the Center on Economic and Financial Power of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.  He is a distinguished graduate of the National War College and was a visiting scholar on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He also  mentors graduate and undergraduate students at St. Louis University.