Shashank Bengali is the National Security Editor for McClatchy Newspapers, supervising foreign affairs, military and intelligence coverage, as well as reporters in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Shashank previously was a McClatchy foreign correspondent and has reported from nearly 40 countries and conflict zones across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He served as bureau chief in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2005 to 2009, traveling throughout the continent to write about Somali pirates, Ugandan child soldiers, Nigerian film stars, Darfur rebels and other larger-than-life figures. In 2010-11 he reported extensively from Iraq and covered the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

He's been a finalist for the Livingston Award for international reporting and won a third prize in the National Headliner Awards. He's also written from overseas for Playboy magazine. He began his journalism career at The Kansas City Star, a McClatchy-owned paper.

Originally from the Los Angeles area, Shashank studied at the University of Southern California, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard University, where he earned a Master's degree in public policy. He speaks French and broken Kiswahili.

Read his former blog, Somewhere in Africa.

Follow him on Twitter at @SBengali.