The president’s surge has been in place for six months. Public support for the war in Iraq is shrinking as Congress debates the path forward.
Three new reports have been released in recent weeks that address what a post-surge strategy in Iraq may look like. They offer a variety of compelling and cutting edge recommendations.
In an effort to begin discussing and disseminating these ideas, the National Security Network will moderate a discussion among the authors of each of the reports.
Brian Katulis and Lawrence Korb, The Center for American Progress, “Strategic Reset”
Shawn Brimley and Michele Flournoy, The Center for New American Security, “Phased Transition”
Michael O’Hanlon and Carlos Pascual, Brookings Institution, “The Case for Soft Partition in Iraq”
Please join us for this discussion to be moderated by Rand Beers.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Program: 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Location: US Capitol S-120
Admission is free
RSVP for this Event
Biographies
Rand Beers is President of the National Security Network. He served as the National Security adviser to the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign. He has 35 years of experience as a senior civil servant. After serving as a Marine officer and rifle company commander in Vietnam, he entered the Foreign Service in 1971 and the Civil Service in 1983. From 1988-98, Mr. Beers served on the National Security Council Staff at the White House as Director for Counterterrorism and Counternarcotics, Director for Peacekeeping, and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs. From 1998-2003 he was Assistant Secretary of State for International, Narcotics, and Law Enforcement Affairs. In 2002-03 he was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism. In 2002-03 he was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Combating Terrorism at the National Security Council. Beers earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.A. from the University of Michigan.
Shawn Brimley is the Bacevich Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Mr. Brimley was awarded the 1LT Andrew J. Bacevich, Jr., USA Fellowship on June 27, 2007 in honor and memory of 1LT Andrew Bacevich who died during combat operations for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Prior to joining CNAS, he was a Research Associate in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His current research focuses on U.S. defense strategy and capabilities for irregular warfare. Mr. Brimley holds a B.A. in history, an M.A. in security studies, and is pursuing further graduate work in security policy from the Elliott School of International Relations at George Washington University.
Michele Flournoy was appointed President of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in January 2007, a venture dedicated to advancing a strong, centrist national security strategy. Prior to co-founding CNAS, she was a Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Previously, she was a distinguished research professor at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University (NDU), where she founded and led the university’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) working group, which was chartered by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop intellectual capital in preparation for the Department of Defense’s 2001 QDR. Prior to joining NDU, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction and deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. In that capacity, she oversaw three policy offices in the Office of the Secretary of Defense: Strategy; Requirements, Plans, and Counterproliferation; and Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasian Affairs. Ms. Flournoy was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1996, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1998, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2000. Ms. Flournoy holds a B.A. in social studies from Harvard University and an M. Lit. in international relations from Balliol College, Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, and the Executive Board of Women in International Security. She is a former member of the Defense Policy Board and the Defense Science Board Task Force on Transformation.
Brian Katulis is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. At the Center, his work examines U.S. national security policy in Middle East with a focus on Iraq. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Center’s Middle East Progress project. Prior to joining the Center, Katulis lived and worked in the Middle East for the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House, including projects in Egypt, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories. From 2000 to 2003, he worked as a senior associate at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. Katulis received a graduate degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs.
Lawrence J. Korb is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Defense Information. Prior to joining the Center, he was a Senior Fellow and Director of National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. From July 1998 to October 2002, he was Council Vice President, Director of Studies, and holder of the Maurice Greenberg Chair. Dr. Korb served as Director of the Center for Public Policy Education and Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, Dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, and Vice President of Corporate Operations at the Raytheon Company. In addition, Dr. Korb served as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower, Reserve Affairs, Installations and Logistics) from 1981 through 1985, for which he received the DoD Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Dr. Korb served on active duty for four years as a Naval Flight Officer, and retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of Captain. He has written 20 books and more than 100 articles on national security issues.
Michael O’Hanlon is a senior fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he specializes in U.S. defense strategy, the use of military force, homeland security and American foreign policy. He is a visiting lecturer at Princeton University, and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also the senior scholar responsible for Brookings’ Iraq Index, which he has created and compiled with Nina Kamp. O’Hanlon was an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office from 1989-1994. He also worked previously at the Institute for Defense Analyses. His Ph.D. from Princeton is in public and international affairs; his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, also from Princeton, are in the physical sciences. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Congo/Kinshasa (the former Zaire) from 1982-1984, where he taught college and high school physics in French.
Carlos Pascual is Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy Studies Program (FPS) at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Pascual joined Brookings in 2006 after a 23-year career in the United States Department of State, National Security Council (NSC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Before joining Brookings, Mr. Pascual served as Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the U.S. Department of State and was Coordinator for U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia (2003). From October 2000 until August 2003, Mr. Pascual served as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. From July 1998 to January 2000, Mr. Pascual served as Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, and from 1995 to 1998 as Director for the same region. From 1983 to 1995, Mr. Pascual worked for USAID in Sudan, South Africa, and Mozambique and as Deputy Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia. He received his M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1982 and his B.A. from Stanford University in 1980. He serves on the board of directors for the National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House, and the Internews Network. He is also on the Advisory Group for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.