Meet Elan

Elan Journo is an expert on American foreign policy, Ayn Rand’s thought, and the intersection of moral ideas and public policy.

Elan’s is the author of What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2018), which became a #1 political freedom bestseller on Amazon.com in October 2023. He is co-author with Onkar Ghate of Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: From George W. Bush to Barack Obama and Beyond (2016). A second expanded edition of this book, retitled Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: What Went Wrong After 9/11, was published in 2021. He co-edited Illuminating Ayn Rand: Essays from New Ideal, the Journal of the Ayn Rand Institute (2022)

Elan’s first book, Winning the Unwinnable War: America’s Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism (2009), analyzes Bush-era foreign policy. It has been featured in university courses.

Elan has published in Foreign Policy, Skeptic Magazine, Middle East Quarterly, and The Journal of International Security Affairs. His commentary has appeared in many popular outlets, including Areo Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, Australia’s Herald Sun, Canada’s Globe and Mail, Times of Israel, Los Angeles Times, Spiked, The Jerusalem Post, and The Hill. He is a senior editor of the Ayn Rand Institute’s journal, New Ideal.

Elan has appeared on countless radio programs (NPR, syndicated talk radio) and TV interviews (Fox News, PBS). He briefs congressional staff and speaks at universities across North America.

Elan holds a BA in philosophy from King’s College London and an MA in diplomacy from SOAS, University of London.