Dr. Magnus Ranstorp is Chief Scientist at the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College and a Senior Honorary Research Associate and former Director of Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He is the author of Hizballah in Lebanon and other numerous articles and monographs on terrorism and counter-terrorism. He is on the International Editorial Advisory Board of the academic journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and on the Editorial Board of Cambridge Review of International Affairs. He is currently completing another book on the Lebanese Hizballah as well as an edited book entitled In the Service of Al-Qaeda.

He is internationally recognised as a leading expert on Hizballah, Hamas, al-Qaeda and other militant Islamic movements. He has conducted extensive field work around the world, interviewing hundreds of terrorists as well as members of militant Islamic movements. His work on the behaviour of the Hizballah movement was recognized by Israeli media in March 2000 as among the contributing factors leading to the decision by the Israeli government to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

Dr. Ranstorp has briefed many senior government and security officials from around the world and lectures regularly to most major universities, think tanks and intergovernmental organisations.

In 2003, he was invited to testify before the 9-11 Commission in a panel on "The Attackers, Intelligence, and Counter-Terrorism Policy."

He was a CNN principal consultant on Terrorism before and after 11 September 2001 and he is currently directing a CSTPV/CNN project on Al-Qaeda's network around the world.