Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Ambassador David Smith, Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies,  is an expert on US-Russian relations and a former US arms negotiator.  He is closely watching the pending New START treaty between the US and Russia, which he warns could hold hidden risks for the US.  Amb. Smith recently took part in a panel discussion on New START at the Heritage Foundation, where he delved into treaty details that could prove problematic.  Click here to read a report on the panel discussion.

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' Col. Vincent J. Goulding, USMC (Ret.), is assigned under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) as Director of Experiment Division at the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, Quantico, VA. In a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times, he reacts to a Times article that questioned whether traditional Marine Corps amphibious operations are a thing of the past.  Goulding argues that far from being mired in the past, the Marine Corps is constantly working to update the amphibious capabilities he describes as a "longstanding U.S. strategic requirement." Click here to read the Los Angeles Times Letters page including Col. Goulding's letter. Click here to read the original Los Angeles Times article addressed by Col. Goulding's letter.    

Prof. Yonah Alexander, Director of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' International Center for Terrorism Studies, recently returned from a June 14-22 visit to Istanbul and Ankara,Turkey. While in Istanbul, he provided academic support to several universities and law schools as part of the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies' efforts to expand its collaboration partners abroad.  The Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies is a consortium of universities and think tanks throughout the world, for which ICTS acts as a coordinating body. Following these meetings, Professor Alexander chaired a seminar discussion for NATO’s Partnership for Peace Center (Ankara, Turkey) conference for Generals and Admirals on “The Silk Road: Towards the New Strategic Concept - the Future of NATO Partnership Programs.”  Professor Don Wallace of the International Law Institute and advisor to ICTS participated in the conference, and also chaired a seminar discussion at the conference.  Next month, the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies will host an Ambassador’s Forum event on July 8th with the Hon. Béla Szombati of the Republic of Hungary. 

Potomac Institute for Policy Studies Senior Fellow Amb. David Smith writes in a recent issue of the Georgian magazine Tabula that Washington's determination to pursue a "reset" strategy with Russia may be clouding US judgment in its dealings with Central Asian countries - including its response to the crisis in Kyrgyzstan.  Amb. Smith writes that high geopolitical stakes in the region make such an approach unwise, arguing that the US would be better advised to "abandon 'reset,' stop sub-contracting its interests in central Asia to Moscow and conduct vigorous diplomacy with every central Asian country and some of the outside powers too." Click below to read the article in full.

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Tabula David Smith.pdf

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