With deep sadness The Saratoga Foundation mourns the loss of its board member Clinton I. Smullyan, who died on October 23, 2025. A noted philanthropist with a deep interest in the former captive nations of the Soviet Union, Clint devoted considerable time and resources to halting the spread of Communism, becoming a founding board member of The Jamestown Foundation, where he served for more than four decades. During that time he aided numerous Russian defectors after their escape from tyranny and enabled them to write their memoirs and speak publicly throughout the United States in an effort to combat Soviet disinformation.

Smullyan joined the board of The Saratoga Foundation at its inception, sharing a deep passion for our mission in educating American policymakers about the war in Ukraine and the range of threats, shaping U.S. interests in Eurasia. Saratoga President and Chairman Glen Howard reflected that the passing of Clint Smullyan leaves an immeasurable void in the generation of Americans whose generosity, patriotism, and steadfast opposition to the spread of Communism helped preserve freedom during the Cold War. Clint’s courage and conviction continued throughout his life — whether in the aftermath of 9/11 and the threat posed by Osama bin Laden, or in response to Putin’s Russia — as he devoted his time, intellect, and resources to helping others understand the dangers confronting U.S. national security.

Howard underscored that what made Clint Smullyan exceptionally unique as a board member was his belief—often expressed with wit and humor—that the key to standing out in Washington’s foreign policy world was to harness indigenous voices—whether Russian, Pashtun, or Uzbek—as a model for providing timely, original analysis to the U.S. policy community. Rather than rely on the American media for information, which every decision-maker in DC consumed, he believed that true expertise depended on intuition, extensive research using indigenous sources, combined with a deep understanding of Kremlin politics shaped by decades of studying its culture and politics. Howard believes that it was this key mix of ingredients that were the recipe for success that would make any organization dealing with foreign policy stand out in a city dominated by endless op-eds and opinion.

Founded in 2023, The Saratoga Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to keeping a watchful eye on all things Eurasia, whether it is a revanchist Russia or a rising China bent on dominating Inner Asia and the Eurasian chessboard.

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Paul Goble

Distinguished Fellow Emeritus

Paul Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia. Currently, in addition to preparing Windows on Eurasia, he writes for the Eurasia Daily Monitor of the Jamestown Foundation. Prior to 2004, he served in various capacities in the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the International Broadcasting Bureau as well as at VOA and RFE/RL and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. While in Estonia, he started the Window on Eurasia series first at windowoneurasia.blogspot.com and now at its current location. Trained at Miami University and the University of Chicago, he has been decorated by the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for his work in promoting Baltic independence. He does not post comments on his blog, but he can be contacted directly at paul.goble@gmail.com. He also distributes this series on request via email in 50-item collections.

Dr. Jānis Bērziņš

Dr. Berzins is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at The Saratoga Foundation. Dr. Berzins is the former director of the Center for Security and Strategic Research (CSSR) at the National Defense Academy of Latvia. He is also Latvia’s principal member of the NATO STO SAS panel. His work focuses on the juxtaposition between the theoretical developments of Russian Military Thought and the operational reality on the ground, and cognitive warfare. Dr. Berzins has lectured as a guest in the United States, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Singapore, Belgium, Brazil, Estonia and Lithuania at various academic and defense institutions. They include the New York University, the Johns Hopkins University, the George C. Marshall Center European Center for Security Studies, the Swedish Defense University, the Swedish Defense Research Agency, the Norwegian Military Academy, the US Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Group, the NATO’s Special Operations Command Europe, the NATO/SHAPE Brunssum Headquarters, among others. Dr. Berzins has advised the United Kingdom House of Commons’ Defense Select Committee, the Parliament of Singapore, the Swedish Government and the Polish Government. He has advised the Ministry of Defense of Singapore regarding Strategic Communications and influence, influence, information, and psychological operations. He has also provided expertise about Russian strategic issues for the US Department of Defense and the private sector.

Valeriy Dzutsati

Valery Dzutsati a Fellow in Eurasian Affairs and is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the School of Anthropology, Political Science, and Sociology at Southern Illinois University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Arizona State University, a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a BA in History from North Ossetian State University, Vladikavkaz, Russia. His research interests include interstate and civil conflict, democratization, politics and religion, state-making processes, and collective action with an empirical focus on Eastern/Central Europe and Northern Eurasian countries.

Volodymyr Havrylov

Major General (ret.) Volodymyr Havrylov is the former Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense. Havrylov ranks as one of Ukraine’s leading defense intellectuals and is a leading expert on the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces. Previously, he served as Defense Attaché at the Ukrainian Embassy to the United States from 2015–2018. He is also currently a Director of the Veterans Dozen Foundation and serves on the Board of Advisors to the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation.

Ihor Kabanenko

Ihor Kabanenko is an expert on the Russian navy and Ukrainian defense and security issues. A retired admiral with the Ukrainian Navy, Kabanenko served in the Soviet navy from 1983 to 1990, in various positions up to Commander of the ship and Chief of Staff of Missile Ships Division. Since 1993, he served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was appointed to the positions of Chief of Operations and Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Navy, the Military Representative of Ukraine to NATO, Chief of Operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the First Deputy Chief of Defence. He retired in 2013, with the rank of Admiral. From May to August 2014, Admiral Kabanenko served as the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, and from August to October 2014—as Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for European Integration. Currently, he works for the private industry and is an expert on defense and security issues.

Pavel Luzin

Dr. Pavel Luzin is a Senior Fellow at the Saratoga Foundation and an expert on Russian foreign and defense policy, as well as Russian policy in space. He received a Ph.D. in international relations from the Russian Academy of Sciences National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) in 2012. Currently, he is a visiting scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University). He is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (USA), and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Global Academy, the Russia Program at George Washington University (USA). Dr. Luzin is also a contributor to the Foreign Policy Research Institute (USA) and writes for Riddle Russia (Lithuania). 

Dr. Luzin has written about Russian strategy in space for over a decade and covered various issues related to the Russian space program and space industry as part of the Russian military-industrial complex in papers published by The Jamestown Foundation, Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), and The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He has also been published in Foreign Affairs, Defense News, Riddle, The Moscow Times, and Intersection Project. Dr. Luzin has a chapter on soft power in space security that been submitted and approved for publication in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Space Security (scheduled for publication in early 2024).

Roger N. McDermott FRHistS

Roger N. McDermott, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHS) is a Senior Fellow on Russian Military Strategy at The Saratoga Foundation, Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford in Modern History and a leading authority on the Russian military. He is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London; Research Associate, Institute of Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus Studies (MECACS), University of St. Andrews, Scotland; and a guest lecturer on Russian military strategy, Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr in Hamburg, Germany and Visiting Lecturer at the Kaitseväe Akadeemia (Estonian Military Academy) in Tartu, Estonia. For a complete list of all his published articles and books, please visit his personal website here.

McDermott is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the British Commission for Military History. His book publications includes: Editor, The Transformation of Russia’s Armed Forces: Twenty Lost Years, (Routledge: London), 2014; Co-editor with Bertil Nygren and Carolina Vendil-Pallin, The Russian Armed Forces in Transition: Economic, Geopolitical and Institutional Uncertainties, (Routledge: London), 2011; The Reform of Russia’s Conventional Armed Forces: Problems, Challenges and Policy Issues, Jamestown Foundation, Washington, DC, 2011. His most recent book is Russia’s Path to the High-Tech Battlespace, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2022, 470 pp.

Hlib Parfonov

Hlib Parfonov is an expert and analyst on OSINT, electronic warfare, Russia and its armed forces. He has been published in a variety of news outlets and a number of Ukrainian and Azerbaijani media, and published studies about the occupied territories of Ukraine. He has been awarded a letter of commendation by the Ukrainian armed forces for his service and by the Baku International Multiculturalism Centre for his contribution to the development of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani relations. Currently, Mr Parfonov is a serviceman in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and a combat veteran.

Murad Batal al-Shishani

Murad Batal Shishani is a leading international expert on militancy and Islamic groups that operate in the Middle East and the North Caucasus. He worked for the BBC World Service (Arabic and English) for more than 16 years as a roving correspondent. In this role, he covered significant events around the globe. He worked in conflict zones such as Iraq, Ukraine, the Syrian border, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Murad was BBC’s in-house expert on militant groups.

He is the founder of the London-based consultancy group “Remarks on Political Violence.” And has authored three books in Arabic covering the North Caucasus conflict and militant groups in the Middle East. Throughout his career, he has also written numerous articles, essays, and studies in both Arabic and English for various prestigious publications. Mr. Shishani holds a master’s degree in political science and speaks Arabic, Chechen, and English, on the broadcast level.

Andrii Ryzhenko

Captain (ret.) Andrii Ryzhenko is an expert on Russian naval forces and naval strategy. He is a former officer in the Ukrainian Navy and retired from the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the rank of Navy Captain. Captain Ryzhenko served over 35 years at sea and ashore: aboard surface warships, at Ukrainian Navy HQ on maritime tactics and PfP exercises, and as defense and strategic planner. He also worked on Ukrainian Navy transformation to Euro-Atlantic standards and on the contribution to NATO-led operations and NATO Response Forces. He served in NATO on partner nation units’ evaluation methodology (OCC E&F) at Supreme Allied Headquarters Europe (SHAPE) (Mons, Belgium), and he developed maritime aspects of the National Security Strategy in Ukraine. Capt. Ryzhenko is currently a strategic expert at the defense and logistics consultant firm, Sonata.

Sergey Sukhankin

Dr. Sergey Sukhankin is a Senior Fellow at The Saratoga Foundation specializing in Russian military and security affairs, as well as Russo-Chinese relations. He is also an Advisor at Gulf State Analytics (Washington, D.C.) and Fellow at the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (Canada). He received a PhD in Contemporary Political and Social History from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His other areas of interest include Kaliningrad and the Baltic Sea region, Russian information and cyber security, A2/AD and its interpretation in Russia, the Arctic region, and the development and activities of Russian private military companies in the Middle East and Africa. He has consulted and briefed the CSIS (Canada), the US Defense Intelligence Agency, and the European Parliament. His research on the activities of Russian Private Military Contractors (PMCs), “War by Other Means” has received widespread international recognition, influencing the United Nations General Assembly report entitled “Use of Mercenaries as a Means of Violating Human Rights and Impeding the Exercise of the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination.” He currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Timothy Thomas

Timothy Thomas is a Senior Fellow at The Saratoga Foundation and a long time expert on the Russian military. Previously he worked for 27 years at the Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in the summer of 1993. Mr. Thomas received a B.S. from West Point and an M.A. from the University of Southern California. He was a U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer (FAO), who specialized in Soviet/Russian studies. His military assignments included serving as the Director of Soviet Studies at the United States Army Russian Institute (USARI) in Garmisch, Germany; as an inspector of Soviet tactical operations under CSCE; and as a Brigade S‑2 and company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division.

Mr. Thomas has conducted extensive research and publishing on military affairs in both Russia and China. He served as the assistant editor of the journal European Security, and as an adjunct professor at the U.S. Army's Eurasian Institute; and as an adjunct lecturer at the USAF Special Operations School. He has written three books on the Russian military. From late 2017 to November 2024, he worked for the MITRE Corporation and published numerous articles on the Russian military.

Mairbek Vatchagev

Mairbek Vatchagaev is a Senior Fellow at The Saratoga Foundation and an expert on the North and South Caucasus and Russian nationalities issues. He was born in Chechnya (USSR - Russia in 1965) and studied history at the Chechen State University, the Research Institute of Chechnya, and the Institute of the Russian History. He defended his PhD in the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow in 1995.

He worked closely with the only democratically elected President of Chechnya - Aslan Maskhadov, and actively campaigned for him in 1996 before the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitored elections.

During the period 1988–99, Vatchagaev was a press secretary and first adviser to President Maskhadov. At the same time, he was in charge of leading the investigation center functioning under the presidential administration of Ichkeria. In the summer of 1999, Vatchagaev was appointed as the general representative of the Republic of Ichkeria in the Russian Federation.

Vatchagaev has been studying the history of the North Caucasus and political processes in the region, as well as the history of Islam in Russia since 2002. He has published numerous articles on the history of Chechnya and politics in the North Caucasus and Russia.

He has extensively contributed to the Jamestown publication Eurasia Daily Monitor about developments in the North Caucasus. From 2007 to 2016, he was a regular contributor to the Jamestown publication Eurasia Daily Monitor, where he wrote hundreds of articles on events in the North Caucasus.

Vatchagaev is an author of nine books on the history and religion of the North Caucasus, including Chechnya in the 19th Century Caucasian Wars: Chechnya in the Caucasian War (1816-1859) pc 2003; Sheikhs and Ziyarats of Chechnya (2009); Eagle-Wolf: Chechnya in the 19th Century Caucasian War (2008); Union of Highlanders of the North Caucasus and the Gorskaya Respublika (2018); Chechnya: The Inside Story. From Independence to war. Mairbek Vatchagaev (2019); Tapa Chermoyev: From the Oblivion of History and other books.

Mr. Vatchagaev has published over 200 articles published on the history of Chechnya and Sufism in the North-Caucasus and 800 articles on political science - North Caucasus and Russia. He is the co-editor-in-chief of the Caucasus Survey (Brill) and author and host of the historical podcasts “Chronicle of the Caucasus with Vatchagaev” on Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

Ray Wojcik

Colonel U.S. Army (retired) Ray Wojcik is a Senior Research Fellow at The Saratoga Foundation and Defense Expert and Consultant with the Kosciuszko Chain, based in Warsaw. Ray Wojcik is the former Director of the Warsaw office for the Center for European Policy Analysis, where he led efforts to strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank. During three decades in the U.S. Army, he served as a Soldier, Noncommissioned Officer, and Officer in Aviation, Intelligence, Infantry, Special Operations and as a Foreign Area Officer. He has worked closely with Allied defense establishments, facilitating defense reform and strengthening Allied capabilities. His expertise includes defense reform, Foreign Military Sales, and policy and defense planning. He served two tours of duty at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, delivering over $5 billion dollars in equipment and training to the Polish Armed Forces (PAF), supporting PAF modernization and deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He led the on-the-ground effort to continuously deploy thousands of American soldiers to Poland and Central/Eastern Europe in “Operation Atlantic Resolve.” He served with the Army in Iraq, and completed master’s programs at the Defense Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. He has been awarded the U.S. Army Legion of Merit and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit, President of Poland.

General Tod D. Wolters is the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and commander US European command (EUCOM). As the SACEUR, he led Europe’s transition out of Afghanistan, ensured the COVID-19 health crisis did not transform into a security crisis, and led NATO’s military allies and partners through the organization’s response to the largest invasion of a European nation since World War II. He united military activities alongside the leadership of all thirty NATO member nations and was instrumental in advancing the future transitions of Sweden and Finland into NATO. In addition to commanding all European military forces, Wolters worked closely with presidents, ambassadors, and chiefs of defense to improve their nations’ abilities to defend and generate peace. His comprehensive approach dramatically improved the security disposition of the European continent.

Prior to his leadership position at NATO and EUCOM, Wolters served as the commander, US Air Forces Europe, commander US Air Forces Africa, commander NATO Allied Air Command and director Joint Air Power Competence Center from 2016 to 2019. General Wolters has also served as the director of operations of the US Joint Staff, director of operations of the US Air Force, commander 12th Air Force/Air Component Command US Southern Command, director, legislative liaison/US Air Force, deputy commander of US and NATO Air Forces Afghanistan, director of operations US Air Force Space Command, and as a deputy commander for Combined Security Assistance Command Afghanistan.

Additionally, Wolters served in key leadership positions at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of the United States military. These positions included command of three tactical air wings, a fighter group, a fighter squadron and staff positions at USAF Headquarters and US Pacific Command. Wolters has fought and commanded during Operations Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), and Southern Watch (Iraq). His awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal. Additionally, Wolters has logged more than five thousand flight hours, primarily in the F-15C, F-22, OV-10, T-38, and A-10 aircrafts.

Wolters graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1982. His military education includes the US Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Air Command and Staff College, Armed Forces Staff College, and the US Army War College. He holds master’s degrees from Embry-Riddle Aero University and the US Army War College. Additionally, Wolters previously served as a senior executive fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Ian Brzezinski

Ian Brzezinski is a resident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and is a member of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group.  He brings to the Council more than two decades of experience in US national security matters, having served in senior policy positions in the US Department of Defense and the US Congress. He currently leads the Brzezinski Group, which provides strategic insight and advice to government and commercial clients.

Brzezinski served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO policy (2001-05). His office formulated, coordinated, and executed bilateral and regional engagement strategies and defense guidance with the Joint Staff, Unified Combatant Commands, and Defense Department elements. His lead responsibilities included NATO expansion; Alliance force planning and transformation; and NATO operations in the Balkans, the Mediterranean, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Key highlights of his tenure include the expansion of NATO membership in 2004; the consolidation and reconfiguration of the Alliance’s command structure; the standing up of the NATO Response Force; and the coordination of European military contributions to US and NATO-led operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans.

Brzezinski served for seven years on Capitol Hill, first as a legislative assistant for national security affairs to the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Bill Roth, (1995–2000) and then as a senior professional staff member on the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (2000–2001). In these capacities, he drafted and implemented legislative initiatives and strategies concerning US interests in Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. As the staff coordinator of the Senate NATO Observer Group, he facilitated coordination and communication between the US Senate and the executive branch on NATO enlargement, NATO operations in the Balkans, and Alliance force modernization, among other issues.

Brzezinski served as a volunteer in Ukraine (1993-1994) advising the Ukrainian National Security Council, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, and Parliament. He served as a member of the policy planning staff in the Defense Department (1991–93), a consultant to the Center for Naval Analysis (1991–1992) and a support analyst/information assistant at the National Security Council (1986–1987). He also worked for five years as a principal at Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., providing policy and technical support to US combatant commands and foreign clients.

For his public service, Brzezinski has been awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service; the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gedimas; the Latvian Ministry of Defense Award; the Romanian Medal for National Service, Order of Commander; and the Order of Merit, Republic of Poland, Officer Class.

Paula Dobriansky

Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky, a foreign policy expert and former diplomat specializing in national security affairs, is a senior fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and vice chair of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

From 2010 to 2012, she was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Thomson Reuters, responsible for designing and implementing a corporate approach for engagement in Washington, DC and other key capitals around the globe. She was instrumental in the development of Thomson Reuters’ financial regulatory strategy. During this time, she was also appointed the Distinguished National Security Chair at the US Naval Academy. From 2001 to 2009, Ambassador Dobriansky served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. Among her primary accomplishments, she established and led the US-India, US-China, and US- Brazil Global Issues Fora. In February 2007, as the President’s Envoy to Northern Ireland, Ambassador Dobriansky received the Secretary of State’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, for her contribution to the historic devolution of power in Belfast.

During her more than twenty-five years in national security affairs, Ambassador Dobriansky has held many Senate-confirmed, senior level positions in the U.S. government including Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Associate Director for Policy and Programs at the United States Information Agency and Deputy Head, U.S. Delegation to the 1990 Copenhagen Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). From 1997 to 2001, she served as Senior Vice President and Director of the Council on Foreign Relations and was the first George F. Kennan Senior Fellow on Russian and Eurasian Studies. 

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy, Ambassador Dobriansky served on the Defense Policy Board, the Secretary of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, and was Chair of Exim Bank’s Chairman’s Council on China Competition.  She is an Atlantic Council Board member, a Trustee of the Trilateral Commission, on the Board of Advisors of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Chair of the Bush Center’s Women’s Initiative Policy Advisory Council. Ambassador Dobriansky received a BSFS summa cum laude in international politics from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, as well as an MA and PhD in Soviet political and military affairs from Harvard University.

Chris Donnelly

As a graduate of Manchester University in Russian Studies and a reserve officer in the British Army Intelligence Corps, Chris Donnelly helped to establish and later headed, the British Army’s Soviet Studies Research Centre at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. From here he supported the setting up of the US Army’s Foreign Military Studies Office at Ft. Leavenworth and, in the early 1980s, served as the UK MOD representative on the expert group studying Soviet weapons design for the DoD Office of Net Assessment. He also held an Adjunct Professorship at Carnegie Mellon University and Georgia Tech. 

Between 1989-2003, as Special Adviser to four NATO Secretaries General, he was closely involved in dealing with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the reform of the newly emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, helping to bring many of them into NATO. He left NATO in 2003 to set up and run the UK Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group. In 2010 he left the Senior Civil Service to become co-Founder of the Institute for Statecraft, dealing with new security threats and responses – specifically, new forms of conflict and how to transform national institutions so that they are fit for today’s rapidly changing security environment. In this post in 2015 he set up and directed the Integrity Initiative, an international programme to expose and counter disinformation and malign influence. In 2020 he stepped down as Director of the Institute to take up the post of Principal Counsellor at Earendel Associates, a private company working on national and international security issues.

Chris Donnelly has produced three books as well as many articles on questions of defense, security, strategy, and statecraft. He has held appointments as Specialist Adviser to three UK Defence Secretaries (both Labour and Conservative) and was a member of PM Margaret Thatcher’s Soviet advisory team from 1983-9. He has served as Specialist Adviser both on the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee and on the Defence Committee. From 2015-8 he sat on the official team responsible for scrutinizing the reform of the UK’s Reserve Forces for the Defence Secretary. Until 2021 he was: adviser to the Foreign Minister of Lithuania; a Security and Justice Senior Mentor in the UK’s Stabilisation Unit, and; Honorary Colonel, Specialist Group Military Intelligence. For over 20 years he has served as Trustee of the London-based charity Forward Thinking, which undertakes reconciliation work in the Middle East and North Africa.

James G. Foggo

Admiral James G. Foggo, U.S. Navy (ret.), is the Dean of the Center for Maritime Strategy. He is a 1981 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. ADM Foggo is also an Olmsted Scholar and Moreau Scholar, earning a Master of Public Administration at Harvard University and a Diplome d’Etudes Approfondies in Defense and Strategic Studies from the University of Strasbourg, France.

He commanded the attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) in 1998, which was awarded the Submarine Squadron 8 Battle Efficiency “E” award and the Admiral Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy, for being the most improved ship in the Atlantic Fleet. Following command of USS Oklahoma City, he would go on to command eight more times to include: Submarine Squadron 6 in Norfolk, Virginia; Submarine Group 8; Allied Submarines South; the U.S. 6th Fleet; Allied Striking and Support Forces NATO; Naval Forces Europe; Naval Forces Africa; and Allied Joint Forces Command (NATO), all headquartered in Naples, Italy.

During these command tours, he participated in combat operations as the Operations Officer for Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn (Libya) in 2011 and Commander Naval Forces Europe for strike operations against Syrian chemical weapons sites in April 2018.

Throughout his career, Foggo has been a champion of the Navy as an extended arm of diplomacy. He maintained close relationships with the U.S. ambassadors in his area of responsibility from Europe to Africa and into the Middle East. He sponsored numerous regional ambassadors conferences at his headquarters in Naples to address security challenges in the Balkans, Mediterranean, and the Black Sea regions. Throughout 2021, he taught a seminar at the Foreign Service Institute on civil-military relations for rising foreign service officers. In November 2021, Foggo was named to the American Academy of Diplomacy as one of a handful of retired flag officers who serve alongside more than 200 retired ambassadors with the common goal of enhancing American diplomacy around the globe.

Foggo is a Distinguished Fellow of the Center for European Policy Analysis and a Distinguished Fellow of the Council on Competitiveness. He is a member of the board of directors of the Olmsted Foundation and the Naval Historical Foundation. He occupies a seat on the editorial board of the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Explorer’s Club of New York. Admiral Foggo sits on the Senior Military Advisors Group at the United States Institute of Peace.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and NATO Meritorious Service Medal. In addition, he is the recipient of the French Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Merité and the Legion d’Honneur, the Cross of Saint George (Portugal), the White Cross of the Naval Order of the Spanish Armada, the Meritorious Service Cross from the Governor General of Canada, the rank of Commendatore from the President of Italy, and Knight of the Grand Cross of Kingdom of Two Sicilies.

Ben Hodges

Lieutenant General (ret.) Ben Hodges is the former Commanding General of US Army Europe (2014-2017).  He currently serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics.  He is also a Distinguished Fellow with GLOBSEC in Slovakia and serves on the International Advisory Board of the New Strategy Center in Romania and the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland.  In addition to the Renew Democracy Initiative, he serves on several civic advocacy boards including Atlantik Bruecke, Arthur Burns Fellowship, Razom for Ukraine, Veterans Help Group, and Spirit of America.  He consults for several companies on Europe, NATO, and the European Union, and he is co-author of the book, Future War and the Defence of Europe, published by Oxford University Press.

He was most recently Senior Advisor to Human Rights First, a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in the United States.  Prior to joining Human Rights First, he held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

A native of Quincy, Florida, General Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the US Army.

After his first assignment as a Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).

General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions, including Chief of Plans for the 2^nd Infantry Division in the Republic of Korea, Director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff, and Chief of Army Congressional Liaison. From 2012-2014 he served as Commander, NATO Allied Land Command in İzmir, Turkey. His last military assignment was as Commanding General, United States Army Europe in Wiesbaden, Germany from 2014 to 2017.

He retired from the U.S. Army in January 2018 and lives today with his wife in Frankfurt, Germany.

Gordon Humphrey

Gordon Humphrey served two terms in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1991, representing New Hampshire.  He was a member of the Foreign Relations, Armed Services the Judiciary Committees.  Keeping a term-limit pledge, he did not seek a third term. 

Upon leaving Washington shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and at a time when the United States had high hopes Russia’s nascent democracy would sink deep roots, Humphrey traveled extensively in that vast country, literally from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, assisting American firms that were seeking to enter the Russian market.   

Senator Humphrey has devoted his efforts over the last five years to advocating the revitalization of  US public diplomacy, a national security implement best described as the persuasion of foreign audiences to the values of freedom and the rule of law.  In his writings, Humphrey cites as a model the effective use of public diplomacy during of the Cold War when the U.S. and other Western nations persuaded  Soviet citizens that life on this side of the Iron Curtain was better than on theirs.   His articles have been published by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and The Hill.

As an example of public diplomacy,Humphrey maintains a Russian-language YouTube channel, NashiEmigranti, featuring video interviews with recent Russian immigrants in the U.S. who describe to the audience back home what America and Americans are really like.

In 2023, Humphrey received the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire Global Leadership Award in recognition of his efforts.    He is a member of the board of the Public Diplomacy Council of America.

Humphrey attended the University of Maryland, and George Washington University.  He is a US Air Force veteran and former airline pilot.

Adrian Zuckerman

Ambassador Zuckerman is a New York real estate and corporate attorney. He is currently Of Counsel to DLA Piper, bringing his unique skills as a lawyer and former government official to advise multinational corporations on legal, regulatory, and governmental affairs as they expand into emerging markets in Eastern Europe and around the world. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Romania from 2019 to 2021.

Under his leadership Romania signed a ten-year defense cooperation agreement with the United States that provided financial, military and strategic support and cooperation. He also advanced and helped structure an intergovernmental agreement between the US and Romania for the $8 billion refurbishment of the Cernavoda nuclear plant which included refurbishing one operating reactor and building two additional nuclear reactors. To help finance this project the Ambassador negotiated a $7 billion financing agreement with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM). The Cernavoda project was the largest-ever joint project between the United States and Romania. The project financing was also the biggest financing agreement by Romania with EXIM as well as EXIM's single largest financing agreement. During Ambassador Zuckerman's tenure, Romania also implemented new economic and infrastructure initiatives as well as initiatives to combat organized crime, human trafficking, fraud, corruption, and intellectual property theft, among others.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis awarded Ambassador Zuckerman Romania's highest civilian award, the Star of Romania, Order of the Grand Cross.

Glen E. Howard

Glen E. Howard is the President and Chairman of The Saratoga Foundation.  Mr. Howard is the former President of The Jamestown Foundation having overseen the research and analysis activities of the foundation for 20+ years where he extensively interacted with prominent leaders, experts, and national strategists from Europe and Eurasia.

An expert on Russia and Eurasia, Mr. Howard is the editor and co-editor of several books on Russia and Eurasia while serving as the President of the Jamestown Foundation until September 2023. He is the recent co-author of Black Sea Battleground: The Road to Ukraine published in 2023 which is a collection of essays by prominent experts on Black Sea security issues published prior to the 2022 Russian invasion. He is also the co-editor of Russia’s Military Strategy and Doctrine (2019), a collection of essays on Russian military strategy and doctrine written by some of the world’s leading defense experts. Mr. Howard also has written about the North Caucasus for several decades and edited the book Volatile Borderland: Russia and the North Caucasus, published in 2011.

Mr. Howard is privileged to have worked for the late Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski from 2002 to 2008 as the executive director for the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) advocating a peaceful resolution to the Second Russo-Chechen war.  Mr. Howard worked at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1984-1986 and is fluent in Russian and proficient in French, Turkish, and Azerbaijani.

Mr. Howard has written extensively on Eurasia and published articles in the Financial Times, the Hill, Wall Street Journal, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Jane’s Islamic Affairs, the Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, and other prominent publications on Eurasia. Mr. Howard worked as a translator at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1984-1986.

Mr. Howard received a Master’s degree in Soviet and East European Studies from the University of Kansas (1988) and has an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University in Business Management (1984).

Philip M. Breedlove

Gen. Philip M. Breedlove (Ret.) is the former Supreme Allied Commander of Europe (SACEUR) and a highly decorated retired general of the U.S. Air Force where he reached the highest levels of military leadership as one of six geographic combatant commanders. During 39 years of service, General Breedlove served in a variety of demanding command and staff positions, leading large-scale, diverse, global operations across two theaters of combat and earning a reputation as an inspirational leader focused on his people, their families, and mission accomplishment. Leading a diverse political- ilitary alliance, he was able to build consensus and form teams to accomplish complex tasks spanning multiple continents.

As the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the Commander of U.S. European Command, he answered directly to NATO’s governing body, the North Atlantic Council, and to the President of the United States and Secretary of Defense. He led the most comprehensive and strategic structural and policy security changes in the alliance’s 70-year history. His diplomatic skills reassured allies, deterred potential aggressors and maintained alliance unity during the most dynamic and challenging period since its inception. He led the forces of 28 nations and multiple partners in ensuring the security of an alliance that accounts for more than half the world’s gross domestic product.

As Commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, General Breedlove was responsible for organizing, training, equipping and maintaining combat-ready forces while ensuring theater air defense forces were ready to meet the challenges of peacetime air sovereignty and wartime defense. This diverse portfolio included both theater and operational air and ballistic missile defense, areas where his operational designs remain in place today.

As Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, he presided over the Air Staff and served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Requirements Oversight Council and Deputy Advisory Working Group during a period of intense challenge, including devising measures to meet the requirements of the Budget Control Act’s required $480 billion reduction of the Department of Defense budget. Accordingly, he led the organization, training and equipping of more than 690,000 people serving in the U.S. Air Force and provided oversight of its $120 billion annual budget.

James Carafano

James Jay Carafano is Senior Counselor to the President and E.W. Richardson Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

A leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, Carafano previously served as the Vice President of Heritage’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy.

Carafano is an accomplished historian and teacher as well as a prolific writer and researcher. His most recent publication is “Brutal War” (Lynne Reinner, 2021), a study of combat in the Southwest Pacific. He also authored “Wiki at War: Conflict in a Socially Networked World” (Texas A&M University Press, 2012), a survey of the revolutionary impact of the Internet age on national security. He was selected from thousands to speak on cyber warfare at the 2014 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas, the nation’s premier tech and social media conference.

Before assuming responsibility for Heritage’s entire defense and foreign policy team in December 2012, Carafano had served as deputy director of the Davis Institute as well as director of its Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies since 2009.

His recent research has focused on developing the national security required to secure the long-term interests of the United States—protecting the public, providing for economic growth and preserving civil liberties. (Many of his writings for Heritage appear below.)

He is editor of a book series, The Changing Face of War, which examines how emerging political, social, economic and cultural trends will affect the nature of armed conflict. From 2012 to 2014 and 2020 to 2021, he served on the Homeland Security Advisory Council convened by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Carafano, a 25-year Army veteran with a master’s and doctorate from Georgetown University, joined Heritage in 2003 as a senior research fellow in homeland security and missile defense. He worked with Kim R. Holmes, his predecessor as vice president and director of Davis Institute, to produce Heritage’s groundbreaking documentary film “33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age.”

Carafano now directs Heritage's team of foreign and defense policy experts in five centers on the front lines of international affairs: the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, the Asian Studies Center, the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, the Border Security and Immigration Center, and the Center for National Defense. 

Carafano served as president of a nonprofit organization, Esprit de Corps, which educated the public about veteran affairs. In this capacity he co-produced and co-wrote the documentaries “Veteran Nation,” an official selection of the 2013 G.I. Film Festival, and “Why We Fight: 9/11 and America's Longest War” (2018). 

Before coming to Heritage, Carafano was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington policy institute dedicated to defense issues.

In his Army career, Carafano served in Europe, Korea and the United States. His assignments included head speechwriter for the Army Chief of Staff, the service's highest-ranking officer. Before retiring, Carafano was executive editor of Joint Force Quarterly, the Defense Department's premiere professional military journal.

A graduate of West Point, Carafano holds a master's degree and a doctorate from Georgetown University as well as a master's degree in strategy from the U.S. Army War College.

He was an adjunct professor at Hillsdale College and taught as a visiting professor at National Defense University. He previously served as an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and as director of military studies at the Army's Center of Military History. He also taught for Mount Saint Mary College in New York, the University of Chicago, Georgetown University, the National Defense University, Virgina Tech University, the Daniel Morgan Graduate School and was a fleet professor at the U.S. Naval War College.

He is the co-author with Paul Rosenzweig of Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom (2005). The authors, first to coin the term “the long war,” argued that a successful strategy requires a balance of prudent military and security measures, continued economic growth, zealous protection of civil liberties and prevailing in the “war of ideas” against terrorist ideologies.

Carafano also co-authored a textbook, Homeland Security (McGraw-Hill, third edition 2019), designed as a practical introduction to everyday life in the era of terrorism. The textbook addresses such key details as the roles of first responders and volunteers, family preparedness techniques and in-depth looks at weapons of mass destruction.

His other works include Private Sector/Public Wars: Contracting in Combat--Iraq, Afghanistan and Future Conflicts (2008); G.I. Ingenuity: Improvisation, Technology and Winning World War II (2006); Waltzing Into the Cold War (2002); and After D-Day (2000), a Military Book Club main selection.

As an expert on foreign affairs, defense, intelligence and homeland security issues, Carafano has testified many times before Congress.

He is a regular guest analyst for the major U.S. network and cable television news organizations, from ABC to Fox to MSNBC to PBS, as well as such outlets as National Public Radio, Newsmax, OANN, PJ media, Voice of America, Epoch News, and the History Channel. From SkyNews to Al Jazeera, he also has appeared on TV news programs originating in Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, Croatia, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Carafano’s op-ed columns and commentary are published widely, including the Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, New York Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, Washington Times, Newsweek, Real Clear Politics, The National Interest, 19FortyFive and Forbes. He has been a contributing columnist at The Washington Examiner and Fox News. 

He served on the board of trustees of the Marine Corps University Foundation and advisory boards for the West Point Center of Oral History, the Hamilton Society, the Spirit of America, and the Operation Renewed Hope Foundation, which serves homeless veterans. He formerly was a senior fellow at George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. He also previously served on the congressionally-mandated Advisory Panel on Department of Defense Capabilities for Support of Civil Authorities, the National Academy's Board on Army Science and Technology and the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee.

In 2005, he received Heritage's prestigious W. Glenn and Rita Ricardo Campbell Award. The honor goes to the staff member determined to have made “an outstanding contribution to the analysis and promotion of the free society.”

Paul Goble

Paul Goble is one of the leading experts in the world on Russian nationalities issues and ethnic and religious questions in Russia and Eurasia and frequently writes on these issues in his bi-weekly Windows on Eurasia blog. Most recently, he was director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Earlier, he served as vice dean for the social sciences and humanities at Audentes University in Tallinn and a senior research associate at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia. While there, he launched the “Window on Eurasia” series.

Before joining the faculty there in 2004, he served in various capacities in the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the International Broadcasting Bureau as well as at the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He writes frequently on ethnic and religious issues and has edited five volumes on ethnicity and religion in the former Soviet space.

Trained at Miami University in Ohio and the University of Chicago, he has been decorated by the governments of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania for his work in promoting Baltic independence and the withdrawal of Russian forces from those formerly occupied lands.

Clinton I. Smullyan

Clinton I. Smullyan is the Chairman and CEO of Mosbacher Properties Group LLC, which is involved in real property development, ownership, and management.

Serap Kara, Esq.

Director of Legal Affairs and Administrative Operations