Martin Gurri

Martin Gurri is an award-winning author, editor and public intellectual whose work explores the intersection of technology, politics and power in the digital age. He has written extensively about the implications of the internet, social media and big data for politics, power structures and democracy. Gurri's work has been featured in a number of prestigious publications, such as The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic and The Nation. He is also the author of The Revolt of the Public, a book that examines the implications of technological empowerment on the existing power structures and the rise of self-informed and disruptive publics around the world.

Gurri was born in 1960 and raised in Washington, DC. He studied at MIT, the London School of Economics, Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego. He spent over two decades in the U.S. intelligence community as a strategic analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the State Department. In his work for the CIA, he provided research and analysis on security issues in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. His work with the State Department focused on issues of public diplomacy in the post-Cold War world.

In 2012, spurred by his experience in government and analysis of the digital revolution, Gurri published The Revolt of the Public. The book provides a powerful look into how technology’s growing influence has disrupted traditional power structures and given rise to “the public” – a growing global coalition of citizens who are growing increasingly aware of their ability to challenge and make their own impact. Gurri examines how technology has enabled a new level of awareness, connecting citizens on a global scale and shifting power from traditional authorities to the public. His work explains the broad implications of technology’s digitization of life, from public outrage over government mismanagement to the power shift from elites to the middle class. As Gurri argues, technology has reshaped the social order, leading to the crisis in democracy and power associated with the “death of the middle class.”

In addition to his work in the intelligence community and as an editor and author, Gurri has served as a consultant, speaker and expert commentator. He has held fellowships and lectured extensively, often combining his insight into the implications of technology with calls for greater public engagement and involvement in government. His book, The Revolt of the Public, has been translated into multiple languages and was awarded the Sir Karl Popper Prize for the best work in political science in 2017.

Gurri’s work provides a powerful look at the implications of technology and a call to action for citizens to engage in government more fully. His insights on technology, politics and power remain relevant even as they continue to evolve in the digital age.