Armand Cucciniello
Armand Cucciniello | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 7, 1979 |
| Education | Boston University (BA) Syracuse University (MA) |
| Occupations | Writer, former diplomat |
Armand V. Cucciniello III (born December 7, 1979) is a former American diplomat,[1] news reporter, military advisor, political commentator, and public relations executive.[2] Cucciniello was formerly spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.[3]
Education
Cucciniello is a graduate of Boston University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2002. He later earned an M.A. from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.[2]
Cucciniello is also a graduate of the National War College at National Defense University, where he concentrated in cyber studies and digital influence.[4] While a student there[5], Cucciniello wrote about and published essays on state-sponsored Chinese digital influence[6] and Russian online propaganda.
Early Career
In 2006, Cucciniello moved to Baghdad, Iraq to work for Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I). Shortly after, he was hired by the U.S. Department of State to work in the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. embassy, located in the former Republican Palace (Arabic: القصر الجمهوري al-Qaṣr al-Ǧumhūriy) of Saddam Hussein.[2] As such, Cucciniello was made a non-career U.S. diplomat[2] and became a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy until 2010.[7]
Cucciniello was Vice President of Blue Force Communications, a public relations agency with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Cucciniello's writing and commentary spans technology, global affairs, foreign policy, and cybersecurity. Some of his earliest known writing[8] is from 2001 and 2003 on information technology and India, which was, at the time, a little-known but rapidly growing hub for business processes outsourcing. [9]
In a 2016 article for USA Today, Cucciniello was the first person to describe then-U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's foreign policy as "America First,"[10] a moniker subsequently used by New York Times reporters David E. Sanger and Maggie Haberman in their interview with Trump who, "agreed with a suggestion that his ideas might be summed up as 'America First'."[11] The phrase became a cornerstone of Trump's campaign platform, and later that of both Trump administrations.[12]
References
- ↑ Kowarski, Ilana (February 4, 2021). "How to Become a U.S. Diplomat". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 Rothman, Evan. "Our Man in Iraq". New Jersey Monthly. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ↑ "U.S. State Dept helicopter crashes in Iraq, two dead". Reuters. 2009-07-18. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
- ↑ "National Defense University: 2022 Graduation Program" (PDF). National Defense University. June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
- ↑ "National Defense University 2022 Graduation" (PDF). www.ndu.edu. June 8, 2022 (PDF). Retrieved April 27, 2026.
{{cite web}}: Check|archive-url=value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Academics vs. Aliens". ndupress.ndu.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
- ↑ "Iraqi Lawmaker Faces Prosecution For Visiting Israel, Advocating Peace". The Huffington Post. 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
- ↑ Iii, Armand Cucciniello (2021-01-18). "India and Information Technology (2003)". Prajñāvāhini: Journal of Dhvanyaloka Studies.
- ↑ Iii, Armand Cucciniello (2021-01-14). "India's Outsourcing Industry To Grow Despite Clamor in U.S. (2003)". Dow Jones International News.
- ↑ Cucciniello, Armand V. (March 11, 2016). "Don't dismiss Trump on foreign policy: Column". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Transcript: Donald Trump Expounds on His Foreign Policy Views". The New York Times. 2016-03-26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ↑ Cucciniello III, Armand V. "Don't dismiss Trump on foreign policy: Column". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2022-06-06.