The Institute of World Politics

Featured guests:

Ambassador Charlie Ray, Former U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia

Jesse Lee, Principal, Institute for the Management of Conflict (Humanitarian Development and Stabilization Operations)

Glenn Pangelinan, Founder, Reliance Project (Anti-Human Trafficking, Sex Slavery, Child Soldiering)

Today's Special Operations Forces (SOF) elements have been trained to face the challenging environments that lie ahead. Over the last decade, the U.S. has moved from high-visibility interventions to ones that emphasize a lighter footprint through contingency and counterinsurgency operations. The dismantling of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan, with the use of only a few SOF elements in partnership with local forces, has shifted the way policymakers view the impacts of low-intensity conflict. The flexibility and adaptability of U.S. SOF elements support the integration of SOF intelligence and operations into the ambit of U.S. diplomatic, strategic and operational planning.

U.S. policy now requires capacity-building programs in pre- and post-conflict communities through foreign security assistance and development partnerships. In all aspects of strategic conduct, the intelligence, operational and civil affairs skills of SOF elements prove integral to the planning of U.S. policy and diplomacy.

Featured guests:

Ambassador Charlie Ray, Former U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia

Jesse Lee, Principal, Institute for the Management of Conflict (Humanitarian Development and Stabilization Operations)

Glenn Pangelinan, Founder, Reliance Project (Anti-Human Trafficking, Sex Slavery, Child Soldiering)

Today's Special Operations Forces (SOF) elements have been trained to face the challenging environments that lie ahead. Over the last decade, the U.S. has moved from high-visibility interventions to ones that emphasize a lighter footprint through contingency and counterinsurgency operations. The dismantling of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan, with the use of only a few SOF elements in partnership with local forces, has shifted the way policymakers view the impacts of low-intensity conflict. The flexibility and adaptability of U.S. SOF elements support the integration of SOF intelligence and operations into the ambit of U.S. diplomatic, strategic and operational planning.

U.S. policy now requires capacity-building programs in pre- and post-conflict communities through foreign security assistance and development partnerships. In all aspects of strategic conduct, the intelligence, operational and civil affairs skills of SOF elements prove integral to the planning of U.S. policy and diplomacy.

About the lecture: In this presentation, James Di Pane will explore the possible and likely courses that India's naval strategy could follow as it seeks to expand its influence. Using the thinking of strategists Julian S. Corbett and A. T. Mahan as a foundation, Indian culture, geography, and current strategic outlook will be used to show the possible advantages and disadvantages India will face with naval development. In addition, U.S. diplomatic and military options will be discussed that aim to build and ensure a cooperative naval relationship with India, as well as the importance of that relationship for regional and global security.

About the speaker: James Di Pane is a graduate student at The Institute of World Politics in the National Security Affairs program and a Rumsfeld Graduate Fellow. He received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Azusa Pacific University, and has presented previous papers on Asian security matters, including: "Balancing Values and Interest: Role of Liberty in U.S. Diplomatic Relations with China" and "Senkaku/Diaoyu Island Dispute and U.S. Strategy."

About the lecture: In this presentation, James Di Pane will explore the possible and likely courses that India's naval strategy could follow as it seeks to expand its influence. Using the thinking of strategists Julian S. Corbett and A. T. Mahan as a foundation, Indian culture, geography, and current strategic outlook will be used to show the possible advantages and disadvantages India will face with naval development. In addition, U.S. diplomatic and military options will be discussed that aim to build and ensure a cooperative naval relationship with India, as well as the importance of that relationship for regional and global security.

About the speaker: James Di Pane is a graduate student at The Institute of World Politics in the National Security Affairs program and a Rumsfeld Graduate Fellow. He received a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Azusa Pacific University, and has presented previous papers on Asian security matters, including: "Balancing Values and Interest: Role of Liberty in U.S. Diplomatic Relations with China" and "Senkaku/Diaoyu Island Dispute and U.S. Strategy."

Using Economic Mechanisms to Achieve Foreign Policy Objectives

with

Francis Skrobiszewski

Former Vice President, Polish-American Enterprise Fund

Former Senior Vice President, Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund

About the lecture: Dr. Skrobiszewski will compare and contrast what the USG did in support of transformation of post-Soviet Central and Eastern Europe with other rebuilding initiatives, with a focus on the Enterprise Fund model. He will touch on post-WWII Western Europe's Marshall Plan, and Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and other recent initiatives, with which he has had some direct experience. He will talk about fundamentally what works and what doesn't as general principles, the need for a strategy that properly defines the problem and the objectives, and the need for understanding tactically how to adapt approaches proven elsewhere to local conditions and realities.

This lecture is part of a series on Economics and Foreign Policy sponsored by the Charles Koch Foundation.

About the speaker: Engaged for the past 25 years in transformation initiatives of former Soviet Bloc countries, Skrobiszewski has been actively engaged in development of economic mechanisms to achieve foreign policy objectives. Upon the collapse of Communism in Poland in 1989, President Bush called Skrobiszewski to The White House to discuss strategy for rebuilding the Polish economy and, on the weekend the Berlin Wall fell, to meet Lech Walesa.

Subsequently, Skrobiszewski drafted the business plan for the $240 million Polish-American Enterprise Fund (PAEF) -- the first of pioneering direct equity funds capitalized by the US Government to "jump-start" local private sector businesses and to build the institutional foundation for free market economies in "post-Soviet" Central and Eastern Europe. Over the next 15 years, Skrobiszewski served initially as Vice President of PAEF, and later as Senior Vice President of the $60 million Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund (HAEF). Concurrently, he was a director of a Polish Mass Privatization Fund comprised of +500 State-owned enterprises. After conceiving and managing HAEF's high-tech Venture Capital fund, Skrobiszewski was appointed to the Investment Committee of a $300 million fund-of-funds financing new high-tech VC firms in Poland.

Skrobiszewski was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in a nearby Polish farming community. After studies at University of Vienna, he graduated in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. During military service, he obtained his Master's degree from University of Southern California in Systems Management. After international law studies in Paris, he received a Juris Doctorate from University of Virginia School of Law. Skrobiszewski practiced law in San Francisco prior to service during the Reagan Administration at the US Environmental Protection Agency, from which he was seconded to the President's Council on Management Improvement. Skrobiszewski has spoken widely on the role of financing in stimulating private business development to support reconstruction. He served 5 years on the Board of Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce, and has advised on such funds designed for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine, Ghana, Cuba and Haiti, as well as for specialized funds in Central Asia, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, and most recently, Swaziland.

Using Economic Mechanisms to Achieve Foreign Policy Objectives

with

Francis Skrobiszewski

Former Vice President, Polish-American Enterprise Fund

Former Senior Vice President, Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund

About the lecture: Dr. Skrobiszewski will compare and contrast what the USG did in support of transformation of post-Soviet Central and Eastern Europe with other rebuilding initiatives, with a focus on the Enterprise Fund model. He will touch on post-WWII Western Europe's Marshall Plan, and Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti and other recent initiatives, with which he has had some direct experience. He will talk about fundamentally what works and what doesn't as general principles, the need for a strategy that properly defines the problem and the objectives, and the need for understanding tactically how to adapt approaches proven elsewhere to local conditions and realities.

This lecture is part of a series on Economics and Foreign Policy sponsored by the Charles Koch Foundation.

About the speaker: Engaged for the past 25 years in transformation initiatives of former Soviet Bloc countries, Skrobiszewski has been actively engaged in development of economic mechanisms to achieve foreign policy objectives. Upon the collapse of Communism in Poland in 1989, President Bush called Skrobiszewski to The White House to discuss strategy for rebuilding the Polish economy and, on the weekend the Berlin Wall fell, to meet Lech Walesa.

Subsequently, Skrobiszewski drafted the business plan for the $240 million Polish-American Enterprise Fund (PAEF) -- the first of pioneering direct equity funds capitalized by the US Government to "jump-start" local private sector businesses and to build the institutional foundation for free market economies in "post-Soviet" Central and Eastern Europe. Over the next 15 years, Skrobiszewski served initially as Vice President of PAEF, and later as Senior Vice President of the $60 million Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund (HAEF). Concurrently, he was a director of a Polish Mass Privatization Fund comprised of +500 State-owned enterprises. After conceiving and managing HAEF's high-tech Venture Capital fund, Skrobiszewski was appointed to the Investment Committee of a $300 million fund-of-funds financing new high-tech VC firms in Poland.

Skrobiszewski was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in a nearby Polish farming community. After studies at University of Vienna, he graduated in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. During military service, he obtained his Master's degree from University of Southern California in Systems Management. After international law studies in Paris, he received a Juris Doctorate from University of Virginia School of Law. Skrobiszewski practiced law in San Francisco prior to service during the Reagan Administration at the US Environmental Protection Agency, from which he was seconded to the President's Council on Management Improvement. Skrobiszewski has spoken widely on the role of financing in stimulating private business development to support reconstruction. He served 5 years on the Board of Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce, and has advised on such funds designed for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine, Ghana, Cuba and Haiti, as well as for specialized funds in Central Asia, Armenia, Georgia, Serbia, and most recently, Swaziland.

Robert G. Kaufman is professor of public policy at Pepperdine University. He is the author of Henry M. Jackson: A Life in Politics (Washington) and In Defense of the Bush Doctrine (UPK).

In Dangerous Doctrine, political scientist Robert G. Kaufman argues that the forty-fourth president has indeed articulated a clear, consistent national security policy. Drawing on international relations theory and American diplomatic history, Kaufman presents a robust critique of the Obama Doctrine. He situates Obama's exercise of power within American strategic traditions such as neorealism, classical realism, declinism, liberal internationalism, and moral democratic realism. Kaufman contends that President Obama has imprudently abandoned the venerable tradition of muscular internationalism employed by most of his predecessors since the end of World War II. Focusing on the pivotal regions of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, Kaufman demonstrates how current executive branch leadership threatens the United States' role as superpower, weakening its ability to spread democracy and defeat threats to geopolitical order.

Robert G. Kaufman is professor of public policy at Pepperdine University. He is the author of Henry M. Jackson: A Life in Politics (Washington) and In Defense of the Bush Doctrine (UPK).

In Dangerous Doctrine, political scientist Robert G. Kaufman argues that the forty-fourth president has indeed articulated a clear, consistent national security policy. Drawing on international relations theory and American diplomatic history, Kaufman presents a robust critique of the Obama Doctrine. He situates Obama's exercise of power within American strategic traditions such as neorealism, classical realism, declinism, liberal internationalism, and moral democratic realism. Kaufman contends that President Obama has imprudently abandoned the venerable tradition of muscular internationalism employed by most of his predecessors since the end of World War II. Focusing on the pivotal regions of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, Kaufman demonstrates how current executive branch leadership threatens the United States' role as superpower, weakening its ability to spread democracy and defeat threats to geopolitical order.

with moderator

Mr. Joel Coulter, Former PMI, WFS, CRDF, AUVSI Board Member; Advisor to KSI Video and Council on Global Relations; Ambassador of DVA-C's OASIS Program; CEO of Mobile Sciences Consortium, LLC

and panelists

Prof. Al Santoli, Founder/President of Asia America Initiative; Philippine Order of the Global Heart award recipient; Faculty member at IWP

Mr. James Pitchford, Former Legislative Assistant for Senator Christopher S. Bond; Advisor to Host Nation Perspectives for its capacity building program

Mr. Sundraham Prabhu, Chairman and CEO ConsolSys (India); Chairman, Board of Supervisors, Azizi Bank; Chairman, Audit Committee, Azizi Bank, Kabul; CWorld Bank Projects, CoWater International

This panel brings together experts on community-based public-private partnership models with experts who are engaged in implementing India's 20/20 Plan and Kazakhstan's Privatization and World's Fair Renewable Systems Innovation and Capacity Building initiatives.

For years, administrations have followed a "top-down, whole of government" approach to urban security and economic development influenced by "Megacities RSI Programs" and China and Brazil's achievements more generally. With innovations in global connectivity, collaboration, and robotics, along with "off-grid" ICT, renewable systems, and 3D printing development, new "bottom-up aid to trade" methodologies have emerged. These methodologies have included the DVA-Consortium's OASIS Eco-Village Program, which has laid the foundation for "net positive aid to trade" capabilities.

with moderator

Mr. Joel Coulter, Former PMI, WFS, CRDF, AUVSI Board Member; Advisor to KSI Video and Council on Global Relations; Ambassador of DVA-C's OASIS Program; CEO of Mobile Sciences Consortium, LLC

and panelists

Prof. Al Santoli, Founder/President of Asia America Initiative; Philippine Order of the Global Heart award recipient; Faculty member at IWP

Mr. James Pitchford, Former Legislative Assistant for Senator Christopher S. Bond; Advisor to Host Nation Perspectives for its capacity building program

Mr. Sundraham Prabhu, Chairman and CEO ConsolSys (India); Chairman, Board of Supervisors, Azizi Bank; Chairman, Audit Committee, Azizi Bank, Kabul; CWorld Bank Projects, CoWater International

This panel brings together experts on community-based public-private partnership models with experts who are engaged in implementing India's 20/20 Plan and Kazakhstan's Privatization and World's Fair Renewable Systems Innovation and Capacity Building initiatives.

For years, administrations have followed a "top-down, whole of government" approach to urban security and economic development influenced by "Megacities RSI Programs" and China and Brazil's achievements more generally. With innovations in global connectivity, collaboration, and robotics, along with "off-grid" ICT, renewable systems, and 3D printing development, new "bottom-up aid to trade" methodologies have emerged. These methodologies have included the DVA-Consortium's OASIS Eco-Village Program, which has laid the foundation for "net positive aid to trade" capabilities.