Recent News

Potomac Institute CEO Mike Swetnam was one of the experts interviewed for the April 28 Sunday Business Post magazine article on the Boston Marathon bombing, “Boston Unbowed,” by Niall Stanage.  In the article, Swetnam argued that while progress has been made since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. has only come halfway.

Three points Swetnam identified as areas where the U.S. could do better include following up on intelligence tips with more diligence, more widespread use of cameras, and an increased sense of public vigilance.  Another issue affecting both terrorism and counter-terrorism efforts is increased access to and use of technology; Swetnam’s point was that the U.S. needs to harness all capabilities at its disposal.

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Sunday Business Post, Boston part 1	6298 Kb
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Read more: Potomac Institute featured in Sunday Business Post article on Boston Marathon bombing

International Center for Terrorism Studies

Refugeeism: Humanitarian and Strategic Challenges

The problem of developing workable, effective policies to deal with refugees and refugee camps is, unfortunately not a new one. The problem has, however, climbed back into the spotlight as the ongoing civil war in Syria, the fighting in Mali and other violence abroad have created significant refugee flows in already volatile parts of the world. To that end, the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies hosted an event on April 19, 2013 titled “Refugeeism: Humanitarian and Strategic Challenges”.

Professor Yonah Alexander, Director of the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies and Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute, opened the proceedings by providing a brief overview of the situation and then introducing the four panelists; Dr. Stephen J. Morris of Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Ralph Nurnberger of Georgetown University, Mark Krikorian, Executive Director at the Center for Immigration studies and Lavinia Limón, President and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

Read more: Refugeeism: Humanitarian and Strategic Challenges

Events

Equipment Reset: Getting the Marine Corps Down to Fighting Weight.

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies held a conference, Equipment Reset: Getting the Marine Corps Down to Fighting Weight, on Wednesday, April 17. Event was lead by LtGen William M. Faulkner, USMC, Deputy Commandant, Installations and Logistics. He discussed the future changes the Marine Corps will be making with downsizing equipment.

The challenges of becoming a lighter and more agile force, while understanding requirements and increased weights and demands, is a daily issue for LtGen William Faulkner, Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics for the U.S. Marine Corps.

Read more: Equipment Reset: Getting the Marine Corps Down to Fighting Weight

Recent News

The Future of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology

Based on a decade or more of study of neuroscience and neurotechnology, the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies believes that the President’s proposed new initiative called the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (the BRAIN Initiative) will advance the important goal of the development of technologies that can be used to understand the brain. The area is important, we believe, because there are exciting new applications beyond medicine, such as improved training and learning, new methods for controlling and interacting with machines, and ways to enhance our alertness and focus.

However, three components will be essential to a neurotechnology initiative: 1) a well-planned roadmap, 2) an inter-agency coordination office to guide the program, and 3) an integrated program for consideration of ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) associated with brain research and its applications.

The Potomac Institute has developed a roadmap, and has previously made recommendations to US government agencies concerning policy considerations in conducting neurotechnology development. We emphasize that the project will call upon many researchers beyond neuroscientists, including engineers, geneticists, biochemists, and experimental psychologists, and will also involve computer science, informatics, medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, and even microelectronics.

Neurotechnology has the potential to generate major societal benefits and industries that we cannot imagine today. Microelectronics and information technology have brought revolutionary changes to our society – neuroscience and neurotechnology are advancing and expanding more rapidly than many other sciences and are primed to contribute to new capabilities in even bigger ways.

A well-planned and executed roadmap, interdisciplinary and interagency coordination and cooperation, and careful consideration of ELSI will make this potential a reality.

New Initiative to Map Human Brain

DOD

White House

NIH