Paul Cruickshank is a New York-based investigative reporter specializing in Al Qaeda, a CNN Terrorism Analyst and an Alumni Fellow at the Center on Law and Security at New York University’s School of Law. He previously worked as an investigative journalist in London, reporting on al Qaeda and its European affiliates and was part of the CNN reporting team that covered the London July 7, 2005 attacks.

Cruickshank is the editor of "Al Qaeda" a five volume collection of the key scholarly research on the terrorist network, which was published by Routledge in November 2012. It includes a comprehensive introduction to each volume newly written by the editor placing the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. Routledge described the collection as "an essential work of reference destined to be valued as a vital one-stop research and pedagogic resource."

Cruickshank has regularly contributed to CNN's reporting of Al Qaeda terrorism from a range of locations including the United States, Europe and the Middle East and has frequently been a guest on CNN programs such as The Situation Room, Anderson Cooper 360, Larry King Live, Piers Morgan Tonight and American Morning, as well as CNN International to provide on-air analysis and reaction to breaking news events.

He was part of CNN's on-air breaking news coverage immediately after news broke of the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 and provided on-air analysis on numerous major stories including the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the 2012 Toulouse terrorist shootings, the 2010 attempted bombing of Times Square, the 2009 Christmas day attempt to bomb an airliner over Detroit, the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack and the 2006 Transatlantic Airlines plot.

Cruickshank has written about Al Qaeda and Islamist groups for a variety of international publications and news outlets including The New Republic, The Guardian, Newsweek, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, Mother Jones, Marie Claire, The Independent, Die Welt, The National Post, The New York Daily News, The Australian, Janes and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.

Big Think, Political, Foreign Policy, Global Economy,