Calendar of Upcoming Events

Tues.-Weds., July 14–15, 2009

FPRI Program on National Security

The Foreign Fighter Problem

Summer School Session 1: Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Exclusively for Members of FPRI and their guests

What’s Wrong with our Intelligence, and How Can We Make It Right?

Richard Immerman Marvin Wachman Director of the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Temple University and Edward Turzanski, Senior Fellow, FPRI

Richard H. Immerman is professor of history and the Marvin Wachman Director of the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy at Temple University. He served as Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analytic Integrity and Standards and Analytic Ombudsman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from Sept.2007-Dec. 2008. In this capacity he was responsible for ensuring that all finished intelligence products are timely, objective, independent of political considerations, based upon all sources of available intelligence, and employ proper analytic tradecraft. Among Immerman’s publications are The CIA in Guatemala: The Foreign Policy of Intervention (1981); John Foster Dulles and the Diplomacy of the Cold War (1990); Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy for National Security (1998), coauthored with Robert R. Bowie; and John Foster Dulles: Piety, Pragmatism, and Power in U.S. Foreign Policy (1998). He was a co-author of The Central Intelligence Agency: Security under Scrutiny (2006).

Edward A. Turzanski, a Senior Fellow in FPRI’s Center on Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Homeland Security, is a national security analyst at La Salle University, where he is Counsel to the President. He is a member of the U.S. Department of Justice Anti-Terror Advisory Committee for Region III and the DHS Port Security Committee for the Port of Philadelphia. Prior to his work at La Salle, he served with the U.S. government in the field of intelligence throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. Mr. Turzanski appears frequently on television and radio including Fox News Network, CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio in Wisconsin and New Hampshire, Canadian Broadcast Corporation news, Turkish National Television from Istanbul, South African National radio, Australian National Radio, WLS in Chicago, KAIRO in Seattle, and KERN in Bakersfield, California. He is also an on-air National Security Analyst for ABC affiliate WPVT TV6 and The Dom Giordano show on WPHT 1210AM in Philadelphia, and Comcast CN8 Network.

Summer School Session 2: Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Exclusively for Members of FPRI and their guests

Al Qaeda´s Palestinian Dilemma

Barak Mendelsohn Assistant Professor of Political Science, Haverford College

While its ability to operate in the heart of the Middle East is in decline, al Qaeda has issued increasing numbers of statements dedicated to the Palestinian arena. The increased attention is not coincidental. In distress, al Qaeda is seeking to use the Palestinian question to improve its image by presenting itself as the Palestinians' true defender. However, Hamas's control over the Gaza Strip presents a serious dilemma for al Qaeda. It is finding that there is no easy way to back its promises with action and that confronting Hamas may actually have undesirable consequences.

Barak Mendelsohn is author of Combating Jihadism: American Hegemony and International Cooperation in the War on Terrorism (University of Chicago Press, 2009). He teaches courses at Haverford on Jihadi movement and on the Middle East. He served in the Israeli army for five years and received his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dinner for Platinum Partners

7 Deadly Scenarios: War in the 21st Century

Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr.

Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr. is President of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a policy research institute established to promote innovative thinking about defense planning and investment strategies for the 21st century. His recent works include Strategy for a Long Peace; Transforming America’s Alliances; The Quadrennial Defense Review: Rethinking the U.S. Military Posture, and How to Win in Iraq. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, Issues in Science and Technology, Joint Forces Quarterly, The Naval War College Review, and Strategic Review, among other scholarly and public interest journals. He frequently contributes to media including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on each of the major networks, NPR, and The McLaughlan Group.

Dr. Krepinevich has served in the DoD’s Office of Net Assessment, on the personal staff of three secretaries of defense, and as a member of the National Defense Panel, the Defense Science Board Task Force on Joint Experimentation, and Joint Forces Command’s Transformation Advisory Board. He will speak on his book, 7 Deadly Scenarios: A Military Futurist Explores the Changing Face of War in the 21st Century (Bantam, Jan. 2009).

Mon. Sept. 21, 2009

FPRI Study Group on America and the West

The Soldier, the State, and the Clash of Civilizations: The Legacy of Samuel Huntington

James Kurth Claude Smith Professor of Political Science, Swarthmore College

James Kurth is the Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, where he teaches defense policy, foreign policy, and international politics. He has been a visiting member of the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, New Jersey), visiting professor of political science at the University of California at San Diego, and visiting professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College. His recent publications have focused upon the interrelations between the global economy, cultural conflicts, foreign policy, and military strategy. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Second Annual Rocco Martino Lecture on Innovation

Innovation and the World Economy

Robert E. Litan Senior Fellow in Economic Studies, Brookings Institution, and Vice President for Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Robert Litan is the vice president for Research and Policy at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City. He is co-author of Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity, which has been translated into ten languages and is used as a college text around the world. His other books include Financial Statecraft (Yale University Press, 2006) and Worldwide Financial Reporting (Oxford University Press, 2006). Dr. Litan has served in several capacities in the federal government: he was associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, 1995-96; Deputy Assistant Attorney General, 1993-1995; staff specialist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, 1977-79. He received his B.S. in economics from the Wharton School, his J.D. from Yale Law School; and his Ph.D. in Economic from Yale University.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Invention and Development of Rotorcraft: A Case Study in the History of Innovation

A Workshop for Teachers

Cosponsored and Hosted by
The American Helicopter Museum and Education Center

Supported by
The Piasecki Foundation
Boeing Co.

• What’s a rotary wing, and why would anyone need such a thing?
• How does a helicopter fly, and what had to be developed to control them?
• Once you have a helicopter, what can you do with it?
• What new things are being developed and how will they affect our lives?

The story of rotary wing flight is one of innovation and heroism, in equal measure. At a time when airplanes were spanning the globe as luxury liners of the air, a small group of visionary engineers set out to develop aircraft for a variety of demanding missions requiring precision control far beyond anything ever envisioned. These pioneering innovators overcame technical challenges through breakthrough designs, careful testing, and sometimes, being willing to try things when others said that they would fail.

The Wachman Center, in partnership with the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center, is presenting this seminar for high school teachers that tells the story of the American rotorcraft industry through the innovations that made vertical flight a reality, and then a necessity, in carrying out vital military and civilian missions. The program will develop curricular materials for high school history and economic classes that will be made available free of charge to teachers worldwide.

Tentative Schedule

• 10:15    Registration and Coffee
• 10:30    Welcome and Introductions
• 10:35 – 11:05  Why Rotors? The Need for, Uses and Roles of Rotorcraft
• 11:05 – 12:15 pm  Early Helicopter Innovation: Challenges, Pioneers, and Philadelphia
• 12:30 – 1:15   Luncheon
• 1:15 – 1:45   Keynote Address – Helicopters in the Military, the Story of HMX-1
• 1:45 – 2:45   Military Rotorcraft Innovation – 1940–2009
• 3:00 – 4:15   Teaching Innovation: Helicopters as Multifaceted Case Studies in History, Economics, Science and Vocational Education
• 4:15 – 4:30   Concluding Remarks

All teachers who complete the program will receive an FPRI Certificate of Instruction, as well as related curriculum materials. Registration is free but reservations are required. Lunch, parking, and coffee breaks are provided at no cost. RSVP: lux@fpri.org.

For essays, lesson plans, and resources on innovation, visit www.fpri.org/education/innovation.

Speakers include:

Lawrence A. Husick is a senior fellow at FPRI, where he co-directs its project on teaching innovation. A consultant to both government and private organizations in the fields of systems analysis and design engineering, Husick has taught at the University of Pennsylvania's organizational dynamics master's program and the Whiting Graduate School of Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University. He co-founded Infonautics Corporation (now HighBeam Research, Inc.) and served as its principal system architect, where he was awarded five U.S. patents. In addition to his work at FPRI, Husick currently serves as chief innovation officer of TeraDisc, LLC, a pioneering company in the field of in silico drug research.

Paul Dickler, Ed.D. is a senior fellow of FPRI's Wachman Center and Teacher-in-Residence at FPRI. He is a consultant for The College Board, ETS, and several universities and school districts. He is also on the staff of Camden County College. Dickler has extensive international study tour experience; he has been a participant and presenter at teacher institutes throughout the US.

Robert M. Beggs is Chairman of the Board of the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center, as well as Senior Manager, Aerospace Technical Support, The Boeing Co.

Bruce H. Charnov, Ph.D., J.D. is a professor of Management, Entrepreneurship and General Business at the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, and a consultant to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, National Geographic Magazine, The History Channel’s Tactical to Practical series, and the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation. He is a renowned expert on the history of the autogyro and gyroplane, as well as the early history of the helicopter.

William Grauer is Boeing Integrated Defense Systems manager of the wind tunnel in Philadelphia.

Fred Piasecki is Vice President of Piasecki Aircraft Corporation, a company founded by his father, helicopter pioneer Frank Piasecki. Mr. Piasecki is an expert rotorcraft engineer, and historian of the company’s long history of building tandem rotor helicopters, from the “Dogship” of the 1940s to today’s Chinook.

Igor Sikorsky, Jr., Esq. is the son of helicopter pioneer Igor Sikorski, a historian and keeper of his father’s legacy, and a noted labor attorney. Mr. Sikorski presents not just the history of his father’s inventions, but the intellectual and philosophical basis for Sikorski’s success as an innovator.

Other speakers to be announced.

This conference is supported by grants from the Piasecki Foundation and Boeing Company. FPRI's Project on Teaching Innovation was launched with a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; core support for our History Institutes is provided by the Annenberg Foundation and Mr. H. F. Lenfest.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

FPRI Annual Dinner

Keynote Address by Robert Kaplan

Robert D. Kaplan is a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He continues to write on a range of foreign policy and national security issues for The Atlantic Monthly and is now writing a book on the future of the Indian Ocean region. His books, several of which were written under grants received through FPRI, include Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground (2007); Imperial Grunts (2005), Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus (2000); and Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History (1993).

Kaplan’s essays have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Army’s Special Forces Regiment, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Marines, and has lectured at military war colleges, the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, major universities, the CIA, and business forums. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls Kaplan among the four “most widely read” authors defining the post-Cold War era (along with Francis Fukuyama, the late Samuel Huntington, and Yale Professor Paul Kennedy). He has received the U.S. State Department Distinguished Public Service Award.