Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Dr. Tawfik Hamid serves as the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' Chair for the Study of Islamic Radicalism.  He writes and lectures frequently on the meaning of the term "moderate Islam" as it is used in the media and in public discourse. In a recent forum on the Wall Street Journal website, Dr. Hamid and other Muslim and non-Muslim thinkers offered their views of how the term should be defined. Dr. Hamid argues that moderate Muslims have a duty to speak out against violence and to find alternative, theologically sound interpretations of religious texts that he says have been used to justify violence. Click here to read the article in full.        

BGen David Reist, USMC (Ret.), is a Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. As a veteran of the Iraq war and former Deputy Commanding General for Economics, Governance, and Tribal Engagement in Anbar Province, BGen Reist is closely following the situation in Iraq as the last US combat troops withdraw from that country. He was interviewed at length on the G. Gordon Liddy Show on Tuesday, August 31: click here to listen to the segment in its entirety.

Dr. Tawfik Hamid serves as the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' Chair for the Study of Islamic Radicalism. In an interview with the London (Ontario) Free Press, he commented on the recent arrests of terrorist suspects in Canada.  Dr. Hamid, a medical doctor who is a former Islamic radical, addressed the seeming contradiction between the quiet lives of some suspects and the allegations that they were involved in terrorism. Dr. Hamid 's take: that there have been many cases in which individuals have been abruptly radicalized. Click here to read the article in full.       

James Barnett is a retired Navy rear admiral and a Senior Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.  He is also on the Executive Advisory Council for Mission: Readiness, a nonprofit, bi-partisan organization led by senior retired military leaders dedicated to the health and welfare of American youth as an essential element of national security.  Mission: Readiness recently published a report entitled "Too Fat to Fight," taking aim at childhood obesity as the leading medical reason why young people fail to qualify for military service.  RADM Barnett appeared on ABC’s "This Week" to discuss the connection between obesity and military recruiting. Click here to watch the segment in full.  

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is pleased to announce that Prof. James Giordano, PhD, has been named Vice President of Academic Programs. Prof. Giordano has served as Chair of Academic Programs since 2009 and will continue to serve as Director of the Institute's Center for Neurotechnology Studies and Executive Director of the Potomac Institute Press.  
 
As Vice President of Academic Programs, Prof. Giordano will restructure and streamline the Programs' organization, and will oversee the Institute's Academic Centers, including the Center for Neurotechnology Studies and the International Center for Terrorism Studies, directed by Prof. Yonah Alexander.  Prof. Giordano will also be responsible for activities of academic fellows, whose independent research will complement and enhance the mission of the Academic Programs.  Click below to watch a video in which Prof. Giordano describes the new structure for the Academic Programs.   

Dr. Tawfik Hamid, Chair for the Study of Islamic Radicalism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, has weighed in on the controversy surrounding a proposed mosque near New York City's Ground Zero with a call for the mosque's supporters to take steps to lay critics' concerns to rest. Dr. Hamid says not only should the proponents of the mosque come out strongly against all forms of violent radicalism, they should acknowledge cultural and historical signals that may be sent by the mosque's construction.  Dr. Hamid was interviewed at length by the New Jersey Jewish Standard ; click here to read the article in full.