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YPFP 2009 Annual Conference Speakers
Saturday, March 21, 2009
12:30 pm – 6:30 pm
1615 H Street, NW | Washington, DC
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Richard B. Andres is a Senior Fellow and Energy and Environment Security and Policy Chair at INSS. His current work focuses on energy and environmental security and particularly defense related energy issues. Prior to joining INSS, Dr. Andres was a professor at Air University assigned to the Pentagon where he served as Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force. In that capacity he advised the Secretary and other senior Air Force leaders on the full range of national security and defense planning issues including deterrence, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, counterinsurgency, air-to-ground operations, issues related to air and cyberspace strategy and procurement, and energy security. Before joining the Secretary’s staff he served as Special Advisor to the Commander of Air University. In this capacity he advised on all issues related to security strategy and helped to reorganize Air Force education to increase its emphasis on research and found the Air Force’s new think tank and strategy journal. As a professor, he taught courses on matters related to international security, defense policy, and organizational behavior. He has also served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (during both the Clinton and Bush administrations), the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Office of Force Transformation, US Strategic Command, the Nuclear Posture Review, the Council on Foreign Relations and other organizations. His publications appear in such journals as International Security, the Journal of Strategic Studies, Security Studies, and Joint Force Quarterly. Dr. Andres was awarded the medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, and has received numerous academic awards and fellowships. He received his PhD from the University of California, Davis.
Mr. Alex Anyse is co-founder and managing partner of The MASY Group, a global intelligence and risk management consulting firm. A military intelligence officer from 1996 to 2004, he specialized in sensitive Human Intelligence and counterterrorism operations. He then served as a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State from 2004 to 2007. During diplomatic assignments in the United Arab Emirates, he witnessed firsthand the economic growth and resulting challenges faced by various Arabian Gulf state actors. Both in his capacity as a military intelligence officer and later as a diplomat, he was repeatedly called upon to fulfill vital roles in support of key national security objectives.
In line with The Office of the Director for National Intelligence (ODNI)’s “2015 Vision” for the Intelligence Community, he is leading an initiative to address the challenges of mentoring, growing and retaining tomorrow’s leaders within the Millennial Generation, a critical component of the Intelligence Community’s workforce. As a subject matter expert on human intelligence, cultural, and security issues, he is a sought after guest speaker, addressing a variety of audiences from the senior management of a Fortune 10 Company to academic forums such as the University of Columbia.
Mr. Anyse was born in Paris, France, and holds a B.A. from the University of Georgia. He is a member of the 2011 TRIUM MBA Program, an academic alliance of New York University Stern School of Business (NYU Stern), the London School of Economics (LSE), and HEC School of Management, Paris (HEC Paris).
He is the recipient of numerous civilian and military awards to include the Bronze Star Medal for service in Afghanistan.
Ziad J. Asali, M.D., is the President and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, non-partisan organization established in 2003 and based in Washington, DC. Dr. Asali is a long-time activist on Middle East issues. He has been a member of the Chairman's Council of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) since 1982, and served as ADC’s President from 2001-2003.
Dr. Asali was born in Jerusalem and received his M.D. from the American University of Beirut (AUB) Medical School in 1967. He is a Diplomat of the Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
In December 2007, he was appointed co-chair of the U.S. Public-Private Partnership, an initiative launched by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. In May 2008 he served as a member of the U.S. Presidential delegation to the Palestine Investment Conference in Bethlehem. Dr. Asali is also a member of the bipartisan and interfaith Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement.
Dr. Asali is founder and Chairman of the American Charities for Palestine (ACP). In August 2008 the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ACP initiating a partnership to help harness the generosity of the American people to help meet Palestinian humanitarian needs.
Tyson Barker joined the Bertelsmann Foundation DC office in 2008 and is the Project Manager on transatlantic relations in the office. Prior to his work at Bertelsmann, Mr. Barker worked in the international relations and emerging markets division of Medtronic looking at chronic health care needs in middle and low income countries.
In 2004 and 2005, Mr. Barker was a Fulbright scholar researching cultural expressions of nationalism in 19th Century Central Europe. He has also received the Taiwan Cultural Exchange Fellowship and a Starr Foundation grant to conduct research on Sino-European relations.
Mr. Barker completed his MA at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University and his BA at Columbia University. In addition to his native English, Mr. Barker speaks fluent German and Spanish as well as proficient Italian, French and Mandarin Chinese.
Smita Baruah is Director of Government Relations at the Global Health Council. Smita currently serves as the Director of Government Relations for the Global Health Council, the world’s largest alliance of organizations and individuals engaged with global health issues. In this capacity, Smita is responsible for overall guidance and direction on global health legislative and policy issues. Prior to becoming Director, Smita served as the lead policy advisor and advocate on issues related to global HIV/AIDS and health systems for the Global Health Council. She chairs the Global AIDS Roundtable, the largest U.S. based working group on global AIDS issues, the HIV Implementers Roundtable (the only U.S. based working group of HIV implementing organizations), and the Health Systems Roundtable.
Smita led the global AIDS advocacy and implementing communities through the process of drafting and passing H.R. 5501, Lantos/Hyde Leadership Against AIDS, TB, Malaria Act of 2008, reauthorizing U.S. global AIDS, TB, and malaria programs.
Smita has nearly a decade of experience in policy/advocacy around international issues, including broader U.S. foreign assistance issues. Prior to joining the Global Health Council, Smita served as the principal government relations advisor for Physicians for Human Rights, focusing on issues ranging from HIV/AIDS, global health workforce, torture and Sudan. She was also with InterAction for nearly six years where she led policy and advocacy around U.S. appropriations for international development and humanitarian assistance. She was also responsible for advocacy work around humanitarian crises issues such as Liberia, Sudan, and Afghanistan during her years at InterAction.
Robert Beecroft is the Vice President for Diplomacy and Development at MPRI, a division of the L-3 Corporation, in Alexandria, Virginia. He retired from the U.S. Senior Foreign Service in June 2006 with the rank of Career Minister-Counselor. From 2001 to 2004, following his Ambassadorial confirmation by the Senate, he led the Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with a staff of 800 people from thirty countries. From 2004 to 2006, he was a Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College in Washington, D.C.
Amb. Beecroft was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service following his earlier assignment (1996-97) to Bosnia and Herzegovina as Special Envoy for the Bosnian Federation and Acting Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Sarajevo. Returning to Washington, he served at the Department of State as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (1998-2000) and Senior Coordinator for Bosnian Implementation in the Bureau of European Affairs (2000-2001).
As a junior and mid-grade Foreign Service Officer, Amb. Beecroft served on four continents. He was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassies in Amman, Jordan and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Counselor for Political-Economic Affairs at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels; Political Officer at Embassies Paris, Bonn and Cairo; Advisor-Expert on the U.S. SALT TWO strategic nuclear arms delegation in Geneva; Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to France; and Deputy Political Advisor to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Mons, Belgium. In Washington, he was Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State, Officer-in-Charge of Federal German Affairs, a nuclear arms control specialist in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, and a member of the Fortieth Senior Seminar.
Amb. Beecroft is the recipient of two Department of State personal Superior Honor Awards, four group Superior Honor Awards, and numerous Performance Awards and Meritorious Step Increases.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Amb. Beecroft completed secondary education at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.A. and an M.A. in French Language and Literature. He studied in Paris at the Sorbonne, in Munich at the Goethe-Institut, and on the postgraduate level at the University of Strasbourg. Before joining the Foreign Service, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph's University and Germantown Academy in Philadelphia, and at the Lycée d’État Fustel de Coulanges in Strasbourg. He is a 1988 graduate of the National War College. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve (Civil Affairs, Medical Corps).
Amb. Beecroft is fluent in French, German, Norwegian and Danish and conversant in several other languages. His hobbies include music (listening and performing), archaeology, snorkeling, tennis, hiking and U.S. Civil War history. He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the Atlantic Council, the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, the American Council on Germany, the American Foreign Service Association, the Association of the United States Army, the Army Civil Affairs Association, the Army and Navy Club of Washington, and the Union League of Philadelphia. He is second vice president of the Alliance Française of Washington.
Amb. Beecroft is married to the former Mette Louise Ording Ottesen, Ph.D. They have two grown children; Christopher is an official at the Department of Defense and Pamela is an Africa specialist at the World Bank.
Ambassador William M. Bellamy (ret.) is the Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Ambassador William M. Bellamy (ret.) officially became director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies on 1 October 2008. At the time of his appointment, he was resident senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. Previously he had served as Senior Vice President of National Defense University.
A career diplomat, Ambassador Bellamy was U.S. ambassador to Kenya from 2003 to 2006. During his tenure in Kenya he directed U.S. security programs in the Horn of Africa. He also supervised the U.S. government’s largest foreign HIV/AIDS program and led multinational efforts to combat corruption and promote good governance in Kenya. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (2001-2003) and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (2000-2001).
His earlier diplomatic assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission in Canberra (1997-2000), Political Minister-Counselor in Paris (1993-1997) and Political Counselor in Pretoria and Cape Town (1991-1993). In South Africa he was closely engaged in U.S. diplomatic efforts to promote a peaceful transition from apartheid to democratic rule.
Ambassador Bellamy holds a BA in history from Occidental College and an MA in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University). He holds certificates from the Institute Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Paris.
Ambassador Bellamy is the recipient of a Presidential Meritorious Service Award, the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and a Distinguished Honor Award and two Superior Honor Awards conferred by the Secretary of State. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked as a journalist in San Francisco and public relations officer for a major bank in Los Angeles.
Dr. Hans Binnendijk is currently the Vice President for Research of the National Defense University and Theodore Roosevelt Chair in National Security Policy. He is also Director of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy. He previously served on the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control (1999-2001). From 1994 to 1999, Dr. Binnendijk was Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. Prior to that, he was Principal Deputy Director and Acting Director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff (1993-1994). He also served as Deputy Staff Director and Legislative Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1980-1985). He has received numerous awards for his government service, including two Distinguished Public Service Awards.
In academia, Dr. Binnendijk was Director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, where he was also the Marshall B. Coyne Research Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (1991-1993). He was Deputy Director and Director of Studies at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies and Editor of Survival from 1988-1991. He is author or co-author of more than 100 articles, editorials and reports. His most recent book is Seeing the Elephant: The U.S. Role in Global Security (Potomac Books: 2006).
Dr. Binnendijk serves on the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, on the Studies Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations, and as Chairman of the Board of Humanity in Action. He previously served on the US Committee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the CSIS International Research Council. He has received the Cross of the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany.
Dr. Binnendijk is a 1968 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his M.A.L.D. and his Ph.D. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Katherine E. Bliss is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Americas Program at CSIS. Before joining the Americas Program, she was a foreign affairs officer at the U.S. Department of State, where she focused on global health and the Western Hemisphere in the Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science and received the Superior Honor Award for her work on environmental health in 2006. From 1996 to 2003, she served on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she was associate professor; she is currently an adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University and teaches courses in the School of Foreign Service’s Center for Latin American Studies. Bliss is the author or coeditor of books, reviews, and numerous articles on public health, gender issues, and reform politics in Latin America, including the 2007 coedited volume of Sexuality Research and Social Policy, “Nuevas direcciones: Sexuality, Politics, and Reproductive Health in Mexico”; Gender, Sexuality and Power in Latin America since Independence (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), coedited with William E. French; and Compromised Positions: Prostitution, Public Health and Gender Politics in Revolutionary Mexico City (Penn State Press, 2001).
Bliss received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and was a David E. Bell Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Center for Population and Development Studies in 2000–2001. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and was a U.S. Department of Education Jacob Javits Fellow. Bliss received her A.B. magna cum laude and her A.M. from Harvard University and also studied at the Colegio de México in Mexico City.
Reinhold Brender has been Counselor (Political) at the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States in Washington, D.C. since November 2005. Prior to his present posting, Dr. Brender held various positions in the Commission's External Relations Directorate-General in Brussels. He also worked as the spokesperson for the "EU Pillar" of the U.N. administration in Kosovo. Before joining the European Commission in 1995, he reported for several years on a broad range of foreign policy issues, including German-French relations and developments in the broader Middle East, as a staff member of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the leading German daily newspaper. Dr. Brender studied Politics, History, and Languages in Germany, France, and Switzerland and holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Freiburg (Germany).
Ms. Danyluk is an Associate on the Modeling, Simulation, Wargaming, and Analysis Team at Booz Allen Hamilton, a management consulting firm in the greater Washington, DC area. She has more than six years of experience conceptualizing and developing alternative futures and scenario-building exercises for clients in the defense and intelligence communities; conducting research and analysis on political, economic, energy, and military trends in Eurasia, South Asia and Asia Pacific; and designing and running workshops and seminars that examine regional dynamics, military strategies, and the implications for US interests.
She has co-authored two studies on Asian energy trends for a Defense Department client--"Energy Futures in Asia" (2004), which examined energy trends and strategies of China and India; and "Energy Futures in Asia Follow-on: Perspectives on India's Energy Security Strategy and Policies" (2007), which explored the prevailing energy trends in Asia and how concerns about energy security are shaping how Indians think about the broader strategic environment over the next two decades. She also participated in a research and analysis effort for the National Intelligence Council, "China and India in the Global Oil Industry," which analyzed the strategic and market implications of China’s and India’s growing energy demand and their growing global activism in the international energy market. She recently served as the primary researcher and author of the study, "The U.S.-India Military Relationship: Reassessing Perceptions and Expectations" for a Defense Department client and is leading an effort that looks at cooperation between India and the United States in Southeast Asia. In August 2006, Ms. Danyluk published an article, “Pursuit of energy security can enhance India’s relationship with the US,” with Juli A. MacDonald in the Indian defense journal, Force.
Prior to joining Booz Allen, Ms. Danyluk held an internship with State Senator Joseph Uliana (PA-18th District). Ms. Danyluk holds a B.A. in International Relations and Economics from Lehigh University. She has been a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies since 2004 and of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy since last year. She travels regularly to South Asia, most recently in May-June 2008.
Amanda Ellis is Lead Specialist, Gender and Development, for the World Bank Group.
In this role Amanda spearheads an exciting new global research program to document the ease of Doing Business for Women across 180 countries. She also manages the World Bank’s Global Private Sector Leaders CEO Forum to promote women’s economic empowerment.
Amanda founded the gender program at the International Finance Corporation, assisting IFC clients in developing countries, providing lines of credit for women SMEs through commercial banks and practical initiatives to assist women entrepreneurs with business and management training, and to access markets. Within two years gender inclusive projects at the IFC grew from only 2% to 23% of the advisory portfolio. Over $40m was committed to financing women entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania through the first ever SME credit lines for women in Africa.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Amanda was Head of Women’s Markets and National Manager for Women in Business at Westpac Banking Corporation, Australia where she and her team grew annual revenues by half a billion dollars in 3 years. An economist with specialization in international trade and development economics, Amanda previously worked for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for ten years, including roles at the OECD in Paris, NZ Consul to the French territories and manager of NZ aid programs in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia.
Amanda is author of two best selling Random House titles, Women’s Business, Women’s Wealth (2002), and Woman 2 Woman: New Zealand women share their experiences of career and business (2004), and lead author of three World Bank titles in the Directions in Development Series on gender and growth in Africa.
Amanda serves on the Board of the East-West Center Association in Hawaii and the OECD international advisory panel on women’s entrepreneurship. She is a founding member of the Global Banking Alliance for Women and a member of Zonta International.
Nicole Finnemann is the Director of Research & Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute where she is charged with matters related to North Korea and Academic outreach. Around the country, she organizes and speaks in KEI's numerous annual university programs and academic symposia. In Washington, Ms. Finnemann is responsible for programming and publications related to North Korea, KEI's Academic Paper Series (as assistant editor and manager). Her primary substantive areas of research are negotiation and North Korea; and she returned from her first trip to Pyongyang in April, 2008. Following meetings with the North Koreans, Ms. Finnemann authored and has since facilitated “Getting to Normal: A Six Party Talks Simulation” for over 320 participants around the country, exposing them to the competing interests and needs of the six nations negotiating the denuclearization of North Korea.
Outside of KEI, Ms. Finnemann has participated in referendum and peace agreement drafting for the Public International Law and Policy Group, co-founded the American University Negotiation Project, as well as LINC Negotiation Architects, a consultancy providing negotiation and mediation training materials. She has over five years of primary and secondary-level teaching and curriculum design experience. Having lived in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Italy, and South Korea, Ms. Finnemann speaks Spanish fluently as well as some Italian and Korean. She holds a B.A. from Kalamazoo College and an M.A. in International Conflict Resolution from the American University's School of International Service
Nile Gardiner is Director of The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. His key areas of specialization include the Anglo-American. Special Relationship, the United Nations, post-war Iraq, and the role of Great Britain and Europe in the U.S.-led alliance against international terrorism and 'rogue states', including Iran. He was recently named one of the 50 Most Influential Britons in the United States by the London Daily Telegraph.
As a leading authority on transatlantic relations, Dr. Gardiner has advised the Executive Branch of the United States Government on a range of key issues, from the role of international allies in post-war Iraq, to U.S.-British leadership in the war on terror. His policy papers are read widely on Capitol Hill, where he is regularly sought after for advice on major foreign policy matters.
Prior to joining the Heritage Foundation in 2002, Nile Gardiner was Foreign Policy Researcher for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Working in her Private Office, Gardiner assisted Lady Thatcher with her latest book, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World, published by HarperCollins. He served as an aide to Lady Thatcher from 2000 to 2002, and advised her on a number of international policy issues.
Dr. Gardiner received his Ph.D. in History from Yale University, and was awarded several academic scholarships, including the International Security Studies Smith Richardson Foundation Fellowship, and the David Gimbel Fellowship. In addition, Gardiner has two Masters degrees from Yale, and a BA and MA in Modern History from Oxford University. He has a broad range of international experience, and has lived in four continents: Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
Colleen Graffy is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy for Europe and Eurasia. In that capacity she travelled to over 40 countries building bridges between the United States and the people of other nations. Her particular focus was on youth, women, "Green Diplomacy" and human rights, in particular freedom of speech and press. She pioneered the use of new media, visual communications and an emphasis on getting government officials out on-the-record and on television-- a culture shift from off-the-record and print focused--by, amongst other things, creating a media hub in Brussels. Prior to that position, she was in England as the Academic Director and Associate Professor of Law for Pepperdine University School of Law's London Program where she was a frequent commentator for radio and television on transatlantic political, legal, and cultural issues.
Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Ms. Graffy earned her BA from Pepperdine University and her MA from Boston University. She then served as co-director of Pepperdine's Year-in-Europe program in Heidelberg, Germany. Ms. Graffy completed the Diploma in Law in London. After attending the Inns of Court School of Law, she was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a Barrister of the Middle Temple and received her LLM through King's College, University of London with Merit. As academic director of the London Program, she was in charge of the London Moot and Clinical Program and taught International Public Law, International Environmental Law, International Law and the Use of Force, and Legal Ethics.
Professor Graffy was recently announced as the Director of Global Programs for Pepperdine University School of Law.
Peter Hakim is president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based center for policy analysis and exchange on Western Hemisphere affairs.
Hakim writes and speaks widely on hemispheric issues, is regularly interviewed on radio and television, and has testified more than a dozen times before Congress. His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, and Financial Times, and in many Latin American newspapers and journals. He was a vice president of the Inter-American Foundation and worked for the Ford Foundation in both New York and Latin America. He has taught at MIT and Columbia. He has served on boards and advisory committees for the World Bank, Council on Competitiveness, Inter-American Development Bank, Foreign Affairs en Español, Partners for International Change, and Human Rights Watch. He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.
Peter Hakim earned a B.A. at Cornell University, an M.S. in Physics at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School.
Duc Huynh is an Analyst on the National Oil Company (NOC) Strategies Service at PFC Energy where he analyzes the geopolitics of energy in the Asia Pacific and the development of Chinese NOCs. He is interested in the role that economics, politics, global energy markets, and governments play in shaping the position of NOCs in the
oil and gas industry.
He was previously a China military analyst for Centra Technology Inc. and a research assistant for the University of California's Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, where he coordinated the annual track-two Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue to discuss the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula. Duc has a BA in East Asian Studies from UCLA and an MA in International Economics from UCSD's Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies.
Eric Jacobstein is a Professional Staff Member (Majority Staff) with the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere which is chaired by Congressman Eliot L. Engel (D-NY). He previously handled trade, trade capacity assistance and Latin America for Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and before that served as manager of legislative affairs at the Inter-American Dialogue. Eric has a MA in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a BA in Political Science from Haverford College.
Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, a visiting fellow with the CSIS Europe Program, is a French career diplomat. Before joining CSIS, he was a rapporteur for the 2008 French White Paper on Defense and National Security, as well as the 2008 French White Paper on Foreign and European Policy. At that time, he was also completing an assignment at the French Policy Planning Staff (Centre d’Analyse et de Prévision) in the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. While there, he was responsible for multilateral affairs and worked extensively on crisis management issues from a French perspective. He had previously worked on political and collective security issues between 2002 and 2005 as an officer at the Political Affairs Division of the United Nations and International Organizations Department of the Quai d’Orsay.
Lafont Rapnouil is a graduate of Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po) and of the French National School of Administration (ENA).
Jerry P. Lanier is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and is the Foreign Policy Advisor to the US AFRICOM Commanding General. Mr. Lanier's primary responsibilities are to keep the AFRICOM leadership informed about U.S. foreign policy priorities and concerns in Africa, and to engage with U.S. and foreign diplomats on AFRICOM issues.
Mr. Lanier entered the Foreign Service in 1983. His first assignment was the US Embassy in the Philippines (1984-85). He then served (1986-89) as Political Officer in Kenya and returned to Washington for one year as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs (1989-90). After two years (1990-92) as Desk Officer for the Republic of Korea, he entered Thai language training and served four years in Bangkok (1993-97) as special assistant to the Ambassador, and as an Economic Officer. He returned to Washington as Legislative Management Officer for Africa (1997-99) and Deputy Director for the Office of West African Affairs (1999-2001). In 2001-02 he went to Bosnia as the Political Advisor to the Commander of U.S. forces at Eagle Base, Tuzla. In 2002-03 he was Deputy Director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs at State. From 2003 to 2006 he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Accra, Ghana.
Immediately prior to coming to AFRICOM, Mr. Lanier was the Director of the Office of Regional and Security Affairs in the Bureau of African Affairs (AF/RSA) at State, which led the Bureau's security assistance, counter-terrorism, and peacekeeping training programs (ACOTA) in Africa. His office also handled the AF Bureau's foreign assistance budget, its interaction with Congress and multilateral organizations, and served as the desk for the US Mission to the African Union. He joined AFRICOM in Stuttgart in November 2007.
Courtney Lutterman is a Consultant with Ernst & Young's Customs and International Trade practice in New York City. She helps multinational companies use preferential trade programs and design import process and control systems to facilitate customs effective supply chain management. She previously worked for Estudio LouLouX, a Brazilian shoe company, and ORC Guideline, a boutique strategy consulting firm. Courtney has a BA in Political Science and Latin American Studies from the University of Chicago.
Jeffrey Mankoff, a specialist in Eurasian/Russian affairs, is an adjunct fellow for Russia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also associate director of International Security Studies, Yale University. Previously, he was a John M. Olin National Security fellow at Harvard University, and a fellow at Moscow State University. Dr. Mankoff has written articles and op-eds on a range of topics connected to Russian foreign policy past and present, including continuity and change in the post-Soviet era, U.S.-Russian relations, the role of political parties, the Balkan crisis, and the diplomacy of Tsarist Russia. He is the author of Russian Foreign Policy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), a book on the evolution of Russian foreign policy in the Putin years. In addition to research, he teaches classes at Yale on modern diplomatic and military history. He received his PhD in history at Yale in 2006, and also holds an MA in political science from Yale and a BA in international studies and Russian from the University of Oklahoma. Communications and
Joshua J. Marcuse is the founder and President of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP). He chairs the Board of Directors, and presides over YPFP's Executive team, responsible for managing YPFP's strategic planning and execution, fundraising and financial management, global operations and expansion, programming, membership, communications and public service. He advises individuals and institutions on how to engage young professionals in the foreign policy community, and frequently speaks to students and recent graduates about careers in international affairs, leadership, entrepreneurship, and civic participation.
Josh works for Booz Allen Hamilton, an international management and technology consulting firm, as a senior consultant supporting clients in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. Navy with the transformation of U.S. military capabilities, investment strategy, technology assessments and strategic planning. Previously, he worked at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC as a Research Associate for transatlantic relations, national security, and international trade.
He is a Fellow and serves on the Board of Next America, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is a member of the Truman National Security Project and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Josh graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College. His honors thesis, The Arsenal of Democracy in the Age of Terror: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Military Assistance as a Counterterrorism Strategy, received the Chase Peace Prize. He served as Vice-President of the Dartmouth Club of Washington from 2005-2007.
Josh is from New York City.
Kathryn McElligott is Director of Development for the Microcredit Summit Campaign. Kate is responsible for strategic planning and implementation of all fundraising efforts to reach the Campaign’s $1.5 million annual programming needs. Before joining the Campaign, Kathryn served as Executive Director at CCS Fundraising a prominent consulting firm conducting capital campaigns for non-profit clients across the country. During that time Kate raised over $9 million for local, national and international clients.
Kate spent a year teaching English in the Hunan province of the People’s Republic of China through WorldTeach, an non-profit organization founded by the Harvard University Center for International Development. Kate holds a Bachelor of Political Science degree from Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island. She spent a semester at the College of Economics and International Relations at the University of Sydney and received a certificate in Project Management from the University of Texas at Austin.
The Microcredit Summit Campaign brings together microcredit practitioners, advocates, educational institutions, donor agencies, international financial institutions, and non-governmental organizations to promote best practices in the field, stimulate debate, and work toward reaching our poverty alleviation goals.
Carl Eduardo Meacham is Senator Lugar’s Senior Staff for Latin America on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Carl came to Senator Lugar’s office in 2003. Prior to that he was a legislative aide for Senators Charles Schumer where he worked on foreign policy and energy and Harry Reid where he worked on immigration issues and foreign policy. Carl also served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Commerce during the Clinton Administration. Before that, Carl worked as a civil servant in the Department of State’s Cuban Affairs Bureau and was a State Department Intern at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain.
Carl has a unique professional and personal background. is the son of a Chilean mother and American father from Alabama. He was born in the United States and educated in both Chile and the United States (New York). He is a native speaker of Spanish and intermediate speaker of French. His education includes: Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, New York, New York, Master of Public Administration, May 1999.· American University, School of International Service, Washington D.C., Master of International Development and U.S. Foreign Policy, December 1997. University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Spanish Literature (second major), Magna Cum Laude, May 1994.· Institute Franco-American, Study abroad program in Paris, France, through the State University of New York at Brockport, January-June 1993.
Leo Michel is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies—the strategic “think tank” of National Defense University (Fort McNair, Washington, DC)—where he concentrates on transatlantic security issues. Before joining INSS in July 2002, Mr. Michel was Director for NATO Policy within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Policy Directorate. During more than 17 years in OSD, Mr. Michel’s also served as OSD representative seconded to the senior faculty of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in Switzerland; Director for Non-Nuclear Arms Control Policy; and Secretary of Defense Representative to the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Consultative Commission (on nuclear testing verification) and Deputy Director for Verification Policy.
From 1980 until joining OSD in 1986, Mr. Michel served in CIA’s Directorate for Intelligence. During the 1970s, he was a legislative aide for foreign and defense affairs to Congressman Edward Biester, Jr. (PA) and as a reporter for French media. He served in the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant (jg) communications officer (aboard the USS John F Kennedy) during 1969-1972.
Mr. Michel, a career civil servant, was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 2000. He holds a Master's degree from Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (1975) and a Bachelor's degree with high honors from Princeton University (1969). In addition to his INSS publications, his commentaries on transatlantic defense issues have appeared in numerous European media, including Newsweek (International Edition), European Voice, Le Monde, Le Soir, Politik International, Atlantisch Perspectief, Doctrine, and Rzeczpospolitica.
Stephen Morrison joined CSIS in early 2000. He currently directs the newly created CSIS Global Health Policy Center. Just prior, Dr. Morrison directed the CSIS Africa Program, the CSIS Task Force on HIV/AIDS (begun in 2001), and most recently codirected the CSIS Task Force on Nontraditional Security Assistance and the CSIS Task Force on the Global Food Crisis. In his role as director of the Africa Program, he has conducted studies on the United States’ rising energy stakes in Africa, counterterrorism, the stand-up of the U.S. Africa Command, and implications for U.S. foreign policy. In 2005–2006, he was codirector of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Africa. Immediately prior to that, he was executive secretary of the Africa Policy Advisory Panel, commissioned by the U.S. Congress and overseen by then–Secretary of State Colin Powell. From 2005 to the present, he has directed multiphase work on China’s expansive engagement in Africa. His work on HIV/AIDS and related global health issues has involved multiple missions to China, Russia, India, Vietnam, and Africa and, most recently, a series of focused studies on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Dr. Morrison writes widely, testifies often before Congress, and is a frequent commentator in major media on U.S. foreign policy, Africa, foreign assistance, and global public health. From 1996 through early 2000, he served on the secretary of state’s policy planning staff, where he was responsible for African affairs and global foreign assistance issues. From 1993 to 1995, he conceptualized and launched the Office of Transition Initiatives at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which operates in countries emerging from protracted internal conflict and misrule. From 1992 until mid-1993, he was the U.S. democracy and governance adviser in Ethiopia and Eritrea. In the period 1987 to 1991, he was senior staff member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa. Dr. Morrison holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale College. He has been an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies since 1994 and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Mary Moseley is a Consultant at Accenture. She is a 2005 graduate of the University of Georgia, where she majored in Finance and French. From 2005-2009, she worked for Accenture LLP, providing management and technology consulting services to a broad range of clients from the private, government and non-profit sectors. While at Accenture, she completed a Fellowship with Kiva Microfunds, working in Senegal to develop Kiva’s new partnerships with local microfinance institutions (MFIs). During this Fellowship, Ms. Moseley worked with group lending, village banking and traditional banking structures, requiring her to meet regularly with borrowers and MFI staff in both urban and rural parts of the country. Her experience with Kiva solidified her desire to follow a career in international development. Her professional interests include access to finance, development economics, social performance measurement and using business to alleviate poverty.
M. Nagaraju is Advisor to Executive Director to India, Bangladesh, Srilanka and Bhutan, at the World Bank.
Julia Nesheiwat is a Senior Advisor in the Economic Bureau at the U.S. Department of State where she focuses on Eurasian Energy issues. Prior to joining the State Department, she was Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) where she focused on international energy affairs. She previously served on the Presidential Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction chaired by Judge Larry Silberman and Senator Chuck Robb where she led the North Korea focus group. Ms. Nesheiwat served as a military intelligence officer in the US Army where she served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Ms. Nesheiwat received her Bachelors degree from Stetson University and a Masters degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She speaks Arabic and Spanish.
Amb. Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat
With the approval of the legislature and the foreign minister, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat to the post of Indonesian Ambassador to the United States in January 2006.
A career member of Indonesia's Foreign Service, Ambassador Sudjadnan brings to his position over two decades of experience. Immediately before coming to Washington, DC, he spent four years as the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs from 2002-2006. As Secretary General, he served as Senior Official Meeting Leader for both the Asia Africa Summit and ASEAN. In addition, he chaired the Third Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee meeting during the treaty’s 2005 review.
Since joining the Indonesian Foreign Service in 1981, Ambassador Sudjadnan has held a number of portfolios. From 2001-2002, he served as Indonesia's Ambassador to Australia and Vanuatu; from 1999-2001 as Director for International Organizations; in 1999 as the Secretary for the Task Force on the Implementation of the East Timor Referendum; and from 1996-1998 as Minister Counselor at Indonesia's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City.
Ambassador Sudjadnan graduated with a degree in International Relations from Gajah Mada University in Indonesia and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in the United States.
Namrata Patodia is the International Fellow at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Her work at the Pew Center includes tracking climate-related policy development internationally; researching international policy issues, including the role of developing countries in a future climate agreement; and facilitating dialogue with governments and stakeholders. Before joining the Pew Center, Ms. Patodia worked at EcoSecurities, a global carbon offset provider, developing strategies and researching carbon markets and climate policy. She also worked at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs researching climate change and corporate responsibility issues. Her experience extends to the nonprofit sector in India where she helped launch community-based environmental initiatives. She has also worked as a management consultant in Australia advising large companies on their sourcing strategies. Ms. Patodia holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and Environmental Sciences from Monash University, Australia.
Steven Pifer is a Visiting Fellow on Foreign Policy at the Center on the United States and Europe. A former ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer’s career as a Foreign Service officer centered on Europe, the former Soviet Union and arms control. In addition to Kyiv, he had postings in London, Moscow, Geneva and Warsaw as well as on the National Security Council. He is focusing on Ukraine and Russia issues at Brookings.
Asia Russell is the Director of International Policy at the Health Global Access Project. Asia has been working with Health GAP since the beginning. Prior to her employment with Health GAP, she was a leader in ACT UP Philadelphia. She has also worked with Philadelphia FIGHT and various other AIDS activist and service organizations. She is a graduate of Temple University and is currently the NGO representative from North America to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Her writing can be found in Global Politics of AIDS, edited by Paul G. Harris and Patricia Siplon. Asia is a 2008 recipient of the Keith Cylar Courage Award from Housing Works.
Mr. Joseph Saba has been the Director of the World Bank's Unit for Strategic Cooperation and Technical Assistance in the Middle East and North Africa since December 1, 2007 where he leads and manages advisory and technical assistance programs for the Gulf Cooperation Council states, partnerships with Arab, Islamic and regional funds for international developmental assistance and private sector development initiatives.
Prior to his present assignment, from 2001-2007, Mr. Saba was Director for World Bank programs in Iraq, Jordan, Iran, Lebanon and Syria; and from 1997-2001, Director for the West Bank and Gaza program. Previously he served as Manager for the World Bank’s Private Sector Commercial Transactions Department and as an adviser for private sector development, focusing on the Middle East, East Asia and Central Asia.
Mr. Saba worked as a corporate lawyer from 1976 to 1991in major privatization and offset transactions in Central Europe and the Middle East and from 1971 to 1974, he was a Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. State Department.
Mr. Saba received his BA from King’s College (PA), an MA in Middle Eastern Affairs from Harvard University (1971) and his JD from Yale Law School (1976).
Claude Salhani is Editor of the Middle East Times and a contributing editor to United Press International. He specializes in political analysis of the Mideast & terrorism.
Jeannine B. Scott is Senior Vice President of Africare. Ms. Scott assumed the position of Senior Vice President in May 2003. She brings over 26 years of experience in the field of African development to the position, including seven years with Africare primarily on the continent of Africa. Her professional experience spans the private, non-profit, multi-lateral agency and government sectors, both in the U.S. and abroad. As Senior Vice-President, Ms. Scott is responsible for Africare’s operations of over 200 projects in 23 African countries, plus overseeing Africare’s European office and operations. She provides strategic guidance and direction to the organization.
Prior to joining Africare, Ms. Scott was the Founder and Principal Officer of America to Africa Consulting, LLC, providing business development and advisory services to American clients seeking to invest in socially responsible projects in Africa. From 1998-2001 Ms. Scott held an appointment from the U.S. Department of Treasury as Advisor and Alternate to the U.S. Executive Director at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), where she helped to shape U.S. positions on Bank Group policy and programs. Before receiving this appointment, Ms. Scott served as a staff member of the African Development Bank from 1992-1998. Initially she worked on economic programs in Southern Africa, including special initiatives to promote cross-border trade and regional economic integration. Later she worked on sustainable development issues, working with Bank management to shape its then heightening focus on combating poverty while ensuring enhanced stakeholder participation and attention to poverty, gender and environment.
Ms. Scott holds A.B. degrees from Vassar College in Political Science and Africana Studies and a Master’s degree in International Relations from Yale University. She sits on several boards and is a member or advisor to numerous international organizations. Ms. Scott is fluent in French and proficient in Portuguese.
Andrew Selee is Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, which promotes dialogue and policy research on U.S.-Mexico relations. He served previously as Senior Program Associate of the Latin American Program and as professional staff in the U.S. House of Representatives and worked for five years in Mexico. He is editor or co-editor of several publications on US-Mexico relations, Mexican politics, immigration, and decentralization.
Selee is an Adjunct Professor of Government at Johns Hopkins University and has been a Visiting Scholar at El Colegio de México. He is a Board member of the U.S.-Mexico Fulbright Commission (Comexus) , a Contributing Editor to the Handbook of Latin American Studies, and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A long-time volunteer of the YMCA, Selee served for five years on the National Board of the YMCA of the USA and chaired its International Committee.
David Sheets is a Senior Fellow with the Army Environmental Policy Institute (AEPI), within the Army Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment Safety and Occupational Health (DASA (ESOH)). His primary focus areas at AEPI are Water issues, climate change, emerging chemicals and technologies, and applications of nanotechnologies. He has been with AEPI since October, 2004.
Dave is a retired Army Medical Service Corps officer, having served as a sanitary engineer officer for 20 years. His education includes an MS in Environmental Health Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. He is also a registered Professional Engineer.
Michael Shifter is vice president for policy and director of the Andean program at the Inter-American Dialogue. Since 1993, he has been an adjunct professor of Latin American politics at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Shifter writes and comments widely on U.S.-Latin American relations and hemispheric affairs. His recent articles have appeared in major U.S. and Latin American publications such as The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Journal of Democracy, Harvard International Review, Clarín, O Estado de S. Paulo, and Cambio. He is also co-editor, along with Jorge Domínguez, of Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Since 1996, he has regularly testified before Congress about U.S. policy towards Latin America.
Brian Slocum is the Program Officer for the Middle East and North Africa at the Grameen Foundation. His primary responsibility is to manage the relationship between Grameen Foundation and Grameen-Jameel, its joint venture partner in the Middle East. Before joining Grameen Foundation, Brian graduated with an M.A. in International Development Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University with a concentration in economic development in the Middle East. While at George Washington, he completed a Capstone Project assessing replicable microenterprise partnership opportunities, or MicroFranchises, for FINCA International.
Prior to studying for his M.A., Brian spent more than 10 years in the private sector in marketing, communications and film and television production, including more than four years at the National Geographic Channel, where he developed marketing partnerships with other corporations and non-profit institutions. He graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in English Literature.
Andrea Walther is a Masters candidate at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where she is concentrating in International Security Studies. During her time at Fletcher, Andrea has focused on the expanding role of the Department of Defense in Sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. government’s ‘3D’ work (diplomacy, development, and defense) in the region. Most recently, Andrea traveled to Mali in November with the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara (JSOTF-TS) to observe Operation Flintlock, a joint multinational Special Forces training exercise. During the summer of 2008, Andrea conducted thesis research at EUCOM and AFRICOM in Stuttgart, Germany on JSOTF-TS operations in West Africa. At the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Center in Ghana, she examined African national, regional, and continental security threats from the perspective of the African soldier/peacekeeper, and worked with DAI to facilitate a civil-military training course on trans-Saharan security to African soldiers.
Prior to Fletcher, Andrea worked for Mayor Cory Booker and the City of Newark, NJ’s Office of Homeland Security, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the United Nations Security Council. Andrea graduated from Tufts University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations.
Ted Warner is a Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton, an international management and technology consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Dr. Warner oversees work to support the modernization of U.S. military capabilities, with emphasis on the development of joint military capabilities, and refinement of the capabilities-based approach to defense. In this capacity, he works with teams of strategic planners, defense analysts and experts in concept development and experimentation, wargaming, modeling, and simulation to assist the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Services, the Joint Staff, and the Unified Combatant Commands as they develop new joint and Service concepts and capabilities to carry out the full range of military operations.
Before joining Booz Allen, Dr. Warner was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Requirements from May 1993 until November 1997 and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction from November 1997 until October 2000. In these capacities, he advised the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Secretary of Defense on national defense strategy, as well as the forces, their readiness, and the contingency plans needed to implement that strategy. He provided policy input to the military requirements process and was a member of the Defense Acquisition Board.
While serving as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Dr. Warner oversaw, on behalf of the Secretary, the efforts of the Services and the U.S. Joint Forces Command to pursue the “revolution in military affairs” by developing and experimenting with new concepts and capabilities to carry out key military operations. In addition, he worked with NATO allies to create processes for cooperative coalition concept development and experimentation in pursuit of greatly enhanced collective Alliance military capabilities. During this period, Dr. Warner was the head of the National Security Education Board from 1993 until 1996 and Vice Chairman of the Defense Policy Board from 1993 until 2000. Following his retirement from government service, Dr. Warner was a member of the Defense Policy Board in 2000-2001.
Dr. Warner was also responsible for Department of Defense policy for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; policy issues associated with U.S. nuclear forces, ballistic missile defense, arms control, and cooperative threat reduction; and defense relations with Russia and the other New Independent States, which emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Prior to his work as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Dr. Warner retired from the Air Force after twenty years service that included assignments as head of the Staff Group, Office of the Air Force Chief of Staff; assistant air attaché in the US Embassy, Moscow, an analyst of Soviet military affairs with the CIA, and as Assistant Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
From 1982 to 1993, Dr. Warner was a senior defense analyst with the Rand Corporation in Washington, DC, where he carried out research on American national security policy, with particular emphasis on the development of new operational concepts to carry out critical operational objectives and military tasks, the defense and foreign policies of Russia and other successor states of the former Soviet Union, and East-West arms control issues.
Dr. Warner received his PhD. in Politics from Princeton University and a B.S. in Marine Engineering from the United States Naval Academy.
Theresa Whelan currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Her office is responsible for Department of Defense policy for all of Sub-Saharan Africa. Ms Whelan brings to her position fifteen years of experience in the defense intelligence and defense policy communities, including twelve years focusing on African issues.
Prior to assuming the DASD position, Ms. Whelan served as Director of the Office of African Affairs for two years. From June 1998 to November 2000, Ms. Whelan was assigned to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy's Balkans Task Force where she served first as the NATO Team Chief on the Task Force throughout the Kosovo crisis and then as the Task Force Deputy Chief of Staff. She was also a Defense Department representative on the US negotiating team at the Kosovo Talks in Rambouillet and Paris, France, from February to March 1999. Her prior positions in the Office of the Secretary Defense include those of Senior Program Director for the US/South Africa Joint Defense Committee, Countries Director for Southern Africa and Countries Director for West Africa. From 1987 to 1991 Ms Whelan served as a military intelligence analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency. During that time she spent three years working as a Military Capabilities Analyst for West, Central and East African countries and a year as a Current Intelligence Analyst covering the same geographic region.
Ms. Whelan has a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University and a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations with a minor in Russian Studies from the College of William and Mary. Ms. Whelan was also nominated for and completed a year-long fellowship with the Council on Excellence in Government in 1996
Damon Wilson, of Charleston, South Carolina, served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) from December 2007 to January 2009. At the NSC, Mr. Wilson advised the President and National Security Advisor on advancing U.S. interests in Europe and with Europe around the world. He served as the lead negotiator for the 2008 U.S.-European Union Summit and secured endorsement of a strategy to diversify Europe’s energy supplies; coordinated U.S. Government policy for the NATO Bucharest Summit and during the Russian invasion of Georgia; and managed the interagency processes resulting in Kosovo becoming an independent democracy without violence and in greater Turkish, Iraqi and U.S. cooperation against PKK terrorism.
Previously, Mr. Wilson served as the Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, where he helped manage the largest U.S. Embassy, implementing a reorganization plan which strengthened coordination, accountability and effectiveness, and helped oversee the Embassy’s effort to design a civilian surge throughout Iraq. Prior to this posting, he worked at the National Security Council as the Director for Central, Eastern and Northern European Affairs from January 2004 to November 2006. During this time, Mr. Wilson strengthened ties with the German Chancellery, coordinated interagency efforts in support of democratic and economic reform in Ukraine, including during the Orange Revolution and directed efforts to strengthen engagement with America’s closest allies in Central and Eastern Europe, including beginning the expansion of visa-free travel.
From July 2001 to January 2004, Mr. Wilson served as Deputy Director of the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General, assisting Lord Robertson in his drive to transform the Alliance by enlarging NATO membership, conducting operations beyond Europe and adapting Allied capabilities to face modern threats. Prior to serving in Brussels, Mr. Wilson worked in the Department of State’s Office of European Security and Political Affairs where he was responsible for cooperation with our Allies on missile defense and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Wilson also worked on the State Department’s “China desk” and at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as a Presidential Management Fellow. Joining the State Department in 1998, Mr. Wilson began his service by helping coordinate policy and planning for the Alliance’s 50th Anniversary Summit in Washington during the Kosovo conflict.
Mr. Wilson completed his master’s degree (MPA) at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs. As a graduate student, Mr. Wilson worked in the African Affairs Directorate of the National Security Council concentrating on Central Africa. From 1995-1996, he served as the first Hart Leadership Fellow, working in Rwanda as a Project Officer for Save the Children’s Children and War Program. As a Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Scholar at Duke University, Mr. Wilson obtained his BA summa cum laude in Political Science. He also studied at the University of Grenoble, France, conducted research in Estonia and worked for refugee programs in Croatia and Turkey. Mr. Wilson has been decorated by the Presidents of Estonia, Hungary and Poland for his efforts to advance transatlantic relations.
Lieutenant Colonel William Wunderle
Lieutenant Colonel Wunderle is currently serving in the Joint Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate (J5) of the Joint Staff as a Political Military Planner with responsibility for Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority. LTC Wunderle previously served as the Senior Army Fellow at the RAND Corporation. He is a graduate of the Joint and Combined Warfighting course at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, the Arabic Basic Course at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, California, and the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Bill is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University, an adjunct instructor for the University of Maryland University College, and a consultant for the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies.
He has published over two dozen books, monographs, and articles through several think tanks and in a number of professional journals. His most recent book, "A Manual for American Servicemen in the Arab Middle East: Using Cultural Understanding to Defeat Adversaries and Win the Peace," was published in May 2008.
Aaron Young served as a Presidential Management Fellow on rotation in 2008 with the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Windhoek, Namibia. He is currently a PMF at the US Department of Education.
