Joel M. Skousen (/ˈskaʊzən/; born September 22, 1946) is an American author of books on survivalism and candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election for the Constitution Party.

He made the case that the Fall of Communism was, also as claimed by KGB defector Anatoliy Golitsyn, a "carefully crafted deception," meant to gain Western aid and technology transfers that would eventually end in a resurgence of the Russian threat.

In his weekly briefings, Skousen has also written extensively about the evidence of conspiracy by government to cover up its own involvement in numerous black operations such as the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Oklahoma City bombing, TWA 800 and the September 11 attacks.

[7] In the book Dancing at Armageddon: Survivalism and Chaos in Modern Times by Richard G. Mitchell, Jr., (2001) Skousen was quoted: "'You never want to make a house look like an obvious fortress.

In late 2007, Skousen gave his support to Ron Paul, rather than to fellow LDS church member Mitt Romney, in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, in a widely circulated YouTube video clip.

[2] In March 2013, Skousen walked away with just slight injuries from the crash of his Glasair kit plane, in a forced rough field landing, following a fuel system failure.