Robert Baer is an author a former CIA field officer who was assigned to the broad Middle East (Beirut, Lebanon, Damascus, Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan) and Europe (France, Ex-Yugoslavia). In 1998, Baer won the CIA career intelligence medal. A fluent speaker in eight languages, he is a frequent commentator and author about issues related to international relations and espionage. His book "See No Evil" was adapted and used as the basis for the film Syriana. Through his years as a clandestine field officer, Baer gained a very thorough knowledge of the Middle East and has become a strong advocate of the Agency’s need to increase human intelligence (HUMINT) via field agent recruitments.