Clint Watts is a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University and a Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow. He previously was an infantry officer in the United States Army, and was the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at United States Military Academy at West Point (CTC). He became a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). He has consulted for the FBI Counterterrorism Division (CTD) and FBI National Security Branch (NSB).

Watts has given expert testimony to the U.S. Congress multiple times, including: to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on April 5, 2016, about the ISIS's November 2015 Paris attacks and the 2016 Brussels bombings, to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs about ISIS after the Orlando nightclub shooting, to the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections in a widely reported March 30, 2017 public hearing, and before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity on April 27, 2017, about Russian black propaganda.

After his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Russian cyberwarfare tactics, CNN profiled him in a piece where they reported he himself was targeted by Russian information warfare after he documented Internet troll techniques.

Watts earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy in 1995. He subsequently earned a Master of Arts degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in 2005.

Watts served in the United States Army as an officer in the infantry. He was the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at United States Military Academy at West Point (CTC). After the September 11 attacks, he was recruited into the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to help coordinate efforts combating terrorism across multiple agencies.

Watts worked as a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In this capacity he served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). Watts has consulted for the FBI Counterterrorism Division (CTD) and FBI National Security Branch (NSB).

Watts is a Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) fellow. He joined with FPRI in 2011, and became its Robert A. Fox fellow in the FPRI initiative focusing on Middle East studies. He is a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. He does consulting work and teaches for police agencies, intelligence sources, and the military.

Watts wrote for The Daily Beast in August 2016 that Russian propaganda fabricated articles were popularized by social media. Watts along with his colleague Andrew Weisburd documented how disinformation spread from Russia Today and Sputnik News, "the two biggest Russian state-controlled media organizations publishing in English", to pro-Russian accounts on Twitter. Citing research by Adrian Chen, Weisburd and Watts compared Russian tactics during the 2016 U.S. election to Soviet Union Cold War strategies. They referenced the 1992 United States Information Agency report to Congress, which warned about Russian propaganda called active measures They concluded social media made active measures easier.