Joseph O’Keefe

Freelance Writer and Editor

Joseph O’Keefe is a freelance writer and editor currently working with the U.S. Department of State. Previously, he was the Senior Manager of Corporate Relations for the International Finance Corporation, The World Bank Group. Mr. O’Keefe was a speechwriter for the U.S.
Secretary of Defence William S. Cohen (1997-2001) and U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky (1996-1997), an associate editor at Foreign Affairs magazine (1993-1996), and a researcher for the Foreign Affairs columnist of the New York Times, Leslie Gelb (1992-1993).

He was editor and co-author of Science at its Best, Security at its Worst (2000), a groundbreaking report for the White House Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on security problems at U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories. The report led to a reorganization of the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a former journalist and graduate of Spring Hill College in Alabama (1984) and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1992).