Actor

Matthew Levitt

Matthew Levitt is a counterterrorism analyst whose work addresses Hezbollah, Hamas and illicit finance. As at 17 October 2026, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy identifies him as the Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow and director of its Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Its biography records earlier service as a counterterrorism intelligence analyst at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and as a deputy assistant secretary at the United States Treasury from 2005 to early 2007.

Contribution

Network analysis is relevant to economic statecraft because target development requires officials to distinguish an organisation from its officers, facilitators and commercial entities. This is an analytical connection, not a finding that any particular scholarly method makes sanctions effective. For official actions involving Al-Qard Al-Hassan, the primary records are Treasury's notices of 3 July 2025 and 10 February 2026. Both identify designations under Executive Order 13224, as amended. Their factual rationales remain attributed administrative determinations, not criminal convictions.

The distinction protects the evidentiary chain. A designation notice shows what an authority decided and alleged; a court record shows its own procedural result; scholarship can offer interpretation. None should silently substitute for another.

See also

Hezbollah | Al-Qard Al-Hassan | Terrorist-financing designation (SDGT) | Juan C. Zarate

Sources

Recommended citation

Cite this entry

Tennant, James J., ed. 'Matthew Levitt.' The Encyclopedia of Economic Statecraft, version 2.0.1, last reviewed 17 October 2026. https://statecraftencyclopedia.org/entries/matthew-levitt/.

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