Potomac Institute for Policy Studies CEO Michael Swetnam says the time is right for Bold Ideas 2010, an Institute-wide effort to identify key national security challenges in the decade ahead.  Back in 1999-2000, the Institute's original Bold Ideas project demonstrated remarkable foresight. Institute scholars warned of asymmetric threats in the coming years, when our adversaries would come to rely on unconventional tactics and weapons.  Bold Ideas 2010 provides an opportunity for the Institute to once again stake out territory at the frontiers of strategic thinking.

As Swetnam points out, the world is more complicated today, offering fresh challenges but also fresh opportunities.  We live in a "flattening" world, where communications are nearly instantaneous, and the very nature of national power is changing. "In the past," Swetnam says, "it was big, mighty weapons and armies" that defined a superpower. "Today, it's economics and dollars, and world control. Sometimes it's influence and control of public opinion even more than the influence of dollars. How those things will change society for the good and the bad is something we really need to think about."  Then he says, let's think about how to leverage those changes to benefit society, and let's use today's technology to spread the word worldwide.  Click below for comments by Michael Swetnam on Bold Ideas 2010.            

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SUMMARY: Decisions by the nation’s medical leadership and some good fortune are playing integral roles in the containment of the H1N1 pandemic, pending the expected third wave. Vaccine supply and dosage, combined with consumer education by health officials have helped control the spread of the virus and disruption to the economy.
STORY LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/health/02flu.html

Read more: U.S. Reaction to Swine Flu: Apt and Lucky

The Director of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' Center for Health Policy and Preparedness, Dr. Donald Donahue, commented recently on the emergence of anthrax in two cases.   Dr. Donahue's observations remind us that unforeseen health threats are always lurking, and preparedness is our best defense.  He writes: "The two separate reports of anthrax exposure and the serious illness that accompanies it are both curious anomalies and weighty warnings.  Industrial hygiene has largely eliminated anthrax as a threat in the developed world.  Yet because we do not face this disease on a routine basis, our ability to prevent and detect is limited.  The same danger lies in an emerging, novel disease or an act of bioterrorism."

Dr. Donahue continues, "Only astute, early detection of SARS allowed the countermeasures that prevented it from becoming a global threat.  To quote Senators Bob Graham and Jim Talent:  'We know from the attempted airplane bombing on Christmas Day that al-Qaeda is a determined enemy.  We also know -- from the discovery and dismantling of biological weapons labs in Afghanistan -- that they are pursuing biological weapons research.'
If the first decade of the new millennium taught anything, it is that the unthinkable is possible.  From 9/11 to anthrax attacks to devastating hurricanes to epic flooding, life-altering events have proven to be waiting in the wings.  A common descriptive term related to the outcomes of both the aborted airline bombing and the less-deadly-than-feared influenza pandemic has been luck.  Luck, unfortunately, is not a reliable plan.  The value of predictive planning is more evident than ever.  Serious consideration of how to the support and protect the most valuable asset of your family, business, or community – the human component – will be invaluable when 'what if' becomes 'when.'"

 

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has appointed Ms. Gail Clifford, formerly CFO of the Institute, to the position of Vice President.  Ms. Clifford will act as Vice President for Financial Management and Chief Financial Officer. 

CEO Michael Swetnam made the announcement on January 6, saying, "Gail’s extraordinary efforts to grow our fiscal assets have given us the flexibility to address key issues facing our country.  Our success has truly been possible because of her." 

Ms. Clifford adds, "I look forward to working with this great team to make the Potomac Institute even more successful."

Read more: Gail Clifford Named Potomac Institute for Policy Studies Vice President for Financial Management