The ISSA College of Fellows Members

Members of The International Strategic Studies Association College of Fellows are elected by the Board of the Association in recognition of their enduring achievements in areas of strategic policy management, research, writing, and practice. It is one of the highest honors the Association can bestow on a Member. Members of the College of Fellows were voted, in March 2015, the right to use the post-nominal initials FSS (Fellow of Strategic Studies at the International Strategic Studies Association) as a professional recognition. The listing below of members of the College are in order of the date of their election.

Gregory R. Copley, Governor of the College of Fellows, and President of ISSA. He founded the Association in 1982, and also, in 1972, founded the Defense & Foreign Affairs Group of publications (now part of the Association). He has spent more than 50 years in the strategic analysis and intelligence fields, as well as in industry, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to strategic analysis. He has received numerous honors for his work. He has authored or co-authored 34 books on strategic and other issues, including The Art of Victory, and has acted as an advisor to a number of governments at head-of-state, or head-of-service level. He presently also serves as Head of Intelligence for the Global Information System, and sits on a number of corporate boards. Recent books include Sovereignty in the 21st Century and the Crisis for Identity, Cultures, Nation-States, and Civilizations (2018); The Art of Victory (2006); and UnCivilization: Urban Geopolitics in a Time of Chaos (2012), and (with Purvis Hussain) the second edition of The Defense & Foreign Affairs Handbook on Pakistan, subtitled Pakistan’s Metamorphosis. In 2016, with other Fellows, co-authored Rise of the RedMed: How the Mediterranean-Red Sea Nexus is Resuming its Strategic Centrality. He was elected in November 2017 as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, the largest and oldest scientific society in the Southern Hemisphere. He was made a Freeman of the City of London, on May 14, 2024.

Pamela von Gruber, Founding Senior Fellow and Provost, has been Executive Director of the International Strategic Studies Association since 1986, and Publisher of the Defense & Foreign Affairs series of publications since that time. She is also Publisher of the Global Information System (GIS) intelligence database produced by ISSA for government users around the world. She has also been conference organizer for the Strategy series of ISSA conferences since 1983.

Yossef Bodansky, Founding Senior Fellow. We regret to inform that "Seffy" Bodansky passed away in 2022. Yossef Bodansky, who is also Director of Research for ISSA, and Senior Editor of Defense & Foreign Affairs publications, has authored numerous books on terrorism and conflict. He was formerly Director of the US House of Representatives Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. He also has a strong background in election monitoring and Middle Eastern, Asian, and African Affairs. One of his books, Bin Laden: the Man Who Declared War on America, was a New York Times best-seller. Other recent books include The Secret History of the Iraq War, and Chechen Jihad.

His Imperial Highness, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, Founding Senior Fellow. Prince Ermias is the current President of The Crown Council of Ethiopia, the remaining Imperial institution in Ethiopia, and is also Patron of the Water Initiative for Africa (WIA). He was a recipient of the Association’s premier award, The Gold Star for Outstanding Contributions to Strategic Progress, for his work for the wellbeing of African communities. Prince Ermias plays an active rôle in Association issues, particularly monitoring intelligence and analysis for ISSA’s Africa Policy Council.

Dr Assad Homayoun, Founding Senior Fellow. 1932-2020. We regret to inform that Dr Homayoun passed away on April 11, 2020. Dr Homayoun, a former senior diplomat in the Imperial Iranian Foreign Service, was President of the Azadegan Foundation, which deals with Iranian national issues, and a frequent commentator on Iranian, Middle Eastern, and strategic affairs. He was a regular contributor to analysis in the Defense & Foreign Affairs publications over the past four decades, and a speaker at ISSA’s Strategy conferences. He was a significant advisor and resource on strategic history and the study of strategic philosophy for ISSA over a period of more than four decades.

Dr Donald Evans, Founding Senior Fellow. Col. (USA rtd.) Dr Donald Evans, an accomplished leader in higher education management, has been associated with the International Strategic Studies Association for more than three decades, acting originally as Executive Secretary to the Association from 1989 to 1992. He has been a Senior Fellow at ISSA since 2001, Contributing Editor, Defense & Foreign Affairs Handbook, 16th Edition, 2006; Senior Editor, Defense & Foreign Affairs Handbook, 15th Edition, 2002. He was a Distinguished Faculty Member, The Global Strategic Forum: Strategy 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. He has written extensively on defense and intelligence issues.

Andrew Pickford, Senior Fellow. Andrew Pickford, who is Managing Director of ISSA Indo-Pacific, divides his time mostly between North America and Australia, particularly focusing on energy security issues. He has authored or co-authored a significant number of studies, mostly on energy security, but also such landmark books with Gregory Copley as Australia 2050, and Such a Full Sea: Australia’s Options in a Changing Indian Ocean Region, as well as Energy Security 2.0.

Anthony Reed, Senior Fellow. We regret to inform that Tony Reed passed away on June 13, 2017. A former colonel in the US Army Special Operations Command, Anthony Reed joined ISSA as a Senior Fellow, in part to expand the organization’s knowledge and capabilities in the area of the protection of military personnel. ISSA had already developed a repository of experience in studying the impact of IED and other blast factors on troop and military vehicle survival. Reed also served as US Ambassador (major-general equivalent) for the United States Army Reserve, reporting directly to the Chief, US Army Reserve and Commanding General, US Army Reserve Command, responsible for legislative and related matters at US Federal and state levels. Recommended Reading List.

Dr Joan Vernikos, Senior Fellow. Joan Vernikos, PhD, was Director of Life Sciences at NASA Headquarters from 1993 until September 2000. She is well known throughout the scientific community, coming to Washington, DC from NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC) in California. She joined ARC in 1964 after four years at Ohio State University Medical School where she was Assistant Professor of Pharmacology. Trained in London, Dr Vernikos held honorary academic appointments at Stanford University, Wright State University School of Medicine, and was Visiting Professor at the University of London. She is now President of Thirdage LLC. She has published over 200 scientific papers and reviews, has served on editorial boards of scientific journals, and was Associate Editor of Pharmacological Reviews. She holds three patents, including one for the Human Powered Centrifuge.

Dr Harry D. Dinella, Senior Fellow, retired as a lieutenant-colonel in the US Army with extensive experience in NATO and intelligence affairs, before pursuing a career as an historian and academic. He is presently Associate Professor, Department of Joint, Interagency and Multinational Operations, US Army Command and General Staff College Satellite Campus, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Visiting Assistant Professor/Adjunct Professor, Department of Public and International Affairs, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, George Mason University (GMU), Fairfax, Virginia, USA.

John Geiger, Senior Fellow, is the Chief Executive Officer of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Canadian Geographic Enterprises. He is the former Chair of the Editorial Board of The Globe and Mail and of National Post, and the international bestselling author of six books, including The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible, and Frozen In Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, which describes the results of the Franklin Forensic Project. His work has been translated into 13 languages. Geiger was born in Ithaca, New York, and graduated in history from the University of Alberta. He is also a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and the Explorers Club, NY.

Dr Frank Salter, Senior Fellow, is an Australian political ethologist, applying theories and methods drawn from behavioral biology to study politics and organizations. He received his PhD in Australia (Griffith University) but spent most of his career at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology in Germany. Frank has taught in Britain, the US, Central and Eastern Europe. His books include Emotions in Command: Biology, Bureaucracy, and Cultural Evolution dealing with organizational behavior and On Genetic Interests: Family, Ethnicity and Humanity in an Age of Mass Migration, an evolutionary theory of ethnic solidarity and conflict. Now returned to his native Australia, Frank consults on policy and management issues.

Lee Mason, Fellow. We regret to inform that Lee passed away after a long battle with cancer, in late 2023. Lee had joined the John Batchelor Show — a national US radio current affairs program — as executive producer in 2003. Previously, she ran a geopolitical consulting firm, was an officer in the Society of Woman Geographers, raced cars, and studied t'ai chi ch'uan. She has participated actively in ISSA election monitoring projects in various countries, and was actively engaged in ISSA’s international outreach programs.

J. Paul de B. Taillon, Senior Fellow, is a retired Colonel with Canadian, UK, US SOF experience, and a commander and instructor at the operational and strategic levels. Extensive operational experience including five tours in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan; counter-insurgency advisor to Commanders of the Canadian Army. PhD graduate in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism from the London School of Economics; published author of books and papers which have been used to form Canadian/NATO doctrine. Currently teaching, publishing and lecturing in counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, intelligence, strategic issues with NATO, Royal Military College of Canada, US Naval Postgraduate School, US Joint Special Operations University and Canadian Government, including speaker at 2014 NATO SOF Commanders’ Conference in Istanbul.

David Murphy, Research Fellow, has worked with the International Strategic Studies Association and Defense & Foreign Affairs publications for several decades as a Senior Analyst in the field of military technology and systems, and has been responsible for significant analysis in the interpretation of military activities worldwide. He has worked for many years on US Dept. of Navy US Naval Intelligence programs. He graduated from the Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in 1986.

Brigadier-General (Retired) D. Craig Hilton, Senior Fellow, served 35 years in the Canadian Army and held several senior national command and international staff positions including NATO Europe and ISAF Afghanistan. A graduate of the US Army War College, he was subsequently the Canadian Military Attaché to the United States, and was later responsible for the Canadian Armed Forces graduate school for selected senior officers and civil service executives at the operational and strategic levels of national security affairs. His particular experience and interests lie in the fields of international security policy, and the analysis and formulation of national security strategy. He is an Officer of the Canadian Order of Military Merit and the United States Legion of Merit, and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Dr Paul D. Scully-Power, Senior Fellow, a citizen of both the US and Australia, was Australia’s first astronaut (NASA Space Shuttle Mission STS 41-G, in 1984). A mathematician and oceanographer, he is considered a world authority on remote sensing and on cyber warfare issues. He serves on a number of corporate boards, and was Chairman of the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Australian Government’s International Space Advisory Group. He is a former Chancellor of Bond University, Australia’s largest private university. He was the inaugural head of the Royal Australian Navy’s Oceanographic Group. He was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2004, and has the US Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Space Flight Medal, and the Casey Baldwin Medallion of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. He was also the recipient of the US Presidential Letter of Commendation, the US Congressional Certificate of Merit, the UN Association Distinguished Service Award, and other professional awards, including Australia’s Oswald Watt Gold Medal, the nation’s highest aviation award.

Dr Darko Trifunovic, Senior Fellow, the author of numerous scholarly papers and books, is the ISSA representative in Serbia and Montenegro. He is also Senior Advisor at the Research Institute for European and American Studies. He is Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Faculty of Security Studies in the University of Belgrade, Serbia. He is a specialist in Counter-Terrorism, National and International Security Studies. He is a former First Secretary of the Foreign Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the United Nations and Advisor to the State Secretary for War Crimes of Republic of Srpska for Terrorism and Violence. Since 2005, he has been an Advisor to the Minister of Police of the Republic of Srpska, BIH. The Shanghai Center for International Studies appointed him as the first foreign expert for the Beijing Olympic Games (2008) security preparations; he was subsequently elected as a research fellow at that institute. He is a Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Transnational Studies, Munich, Germany. Dr Trifunovic is regular speaker at International Counter Terrorism Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel, Member of International Analyst Network as well as one of the Founding Members of the International Counter Terrorism Academic Community (ICTAC).

Admiral Chen Yeong-Kang (Richard), Senior Fellow, is a former Deputy Minister of Defense (Policy) for the Republic of China (ROC: Taiwan) and was the fifth Commander of the ROC Navy until his promotion to be Deputy Minister of Defense in 2015. Adm. Chen is also a former President of the ROC’s National Defense University, had headed the ROC’s Defense Mission to the United States, and earlier studied at the US Naval War College. Adm. Chen was the driving force for the development of an Indigenously-Designed Submarine for the ROC Navy, and also for the extensive modernization of the Navy’s fleet, which incorporated significant new technological approaches. He also served as Strategic Advisor to the President of the ROC, Ma Ying-jeou, after heading the Navy. Adm. Chen, based in Taipei, is also an accomplished artist.

Paul S. Giarra, Senior Fellow, is the President of Global Strategies & Transformation, a US-based professional services firm and strategic planning consultancy providing national security strategic analysis, defense concept development, military transformation expertise, defense industry strategic planning, and applied history as a planning tool. Mr Giarra is a strategic planner and national security analyst for Japan, China, East Asia, and NATO futures. He has supported transformation and experimentation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense; at US Joint Forces Command; at the US Pacific Command; at NATO HQ; and at NATO Allied Command Transformation. He is a frequent commentator on China military futures, the US Navy’s maritime strategy, and the US-Japan alliance, and taught net assessment best practices to international students at the US Naval Postgraduate School. Paul Giarra is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). During his Naval career, Mr Giarra was a Naval aviator; a naval strategic planner; a political-military strategic planner for Far East, South Asia and Pacific issues; and managed the US-Japan alliance in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He is a graduate of Harvard College; the US Naval War College; and the National War College-equivalent National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo.

Branko Mikasinovich, PhD, Senior Fellow, is an internationally recognized Slavist and broadcast journalist. As a career Voice of America television journalist on the Serbian Service, Dr Mikasinovich has interviewed nationally and internationally recognized political, business and cultural leaders from the USA, the former Yugoslavia, and Serbia . He is also the editor of a number of books on Yugoslav and Serbian literature and drama. Currently, Mikasinovich writes a monthly column in the American Srbobran newspaper. Earlier in his career, Dr Mikasinovich served on the faculty of Tulane University in New Orleans where he also served as President of the Louisiana Association of Professors of Slavic and East European languages. He received his BA from Roosevelt University in Chicago, an MA from Northwestern University in Evanston, and a PhD from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Belgrade in Belgrade, Serbia. Dr Mikasinovich is listed as one of the “Distinguished Alumni” of the University of Belgrade and listed among the “Famous Alumni of Roosevelt University”.

Wendy M. Cecil, Senior Fellow, is, among other things, Chancellor of Victoria University, in the University of Toronto (2010-present); Vice President of the Board of Governors of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society; Chair of the Presidents’ Circle of the University of Toronto (1984-present); and is involved in a range of other academic and social leadership engagements, having also had a long engagement on corporate boards and in business in Canada. She was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2014, a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 2012; received the Therese Casgrain Award from the Canadian Government in 2009; a Doctorate of Laws, Honoris Causa, from the University of Toronto in 2005; Honorary Senior Fellow, Massey College, University of Toronto (2003-present); the Armor Award from the University of Toronto in 1992; and was Ontario Scholar and Valedictorian in 1967. In her personal life, Wendy Cecil has a record of competitive engagement in athletics, including canoeing [she is on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Canoe Museum].

Stephen M. Ryan, Senior Fellow, is partner and head of the Government Strategies and Government Contracts Practice Groups in the Washington, DC, office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Ryan specializes in laws governing procurement of defense needs, national security, and cyber security issues. He often represents companies in both private and public sensitive government investigations. Ryan’s prior government career includes senior executive service in all branches of the US Government, to include service as General Counsel to the US Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, chaired by the Hon. John Glenn, as an Assistant US Attorney in Washington, DC, prosecuting criminal cases, and as the law clerk to a US District Judge. He served the US Government during the 1990s as an advisor to the Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, and other Eastern European governments shortly after Soviet rule ended. Steve is particularly active regarding international governance of the Internet, and is counsel to the Internet numbers community in North America. He has authored numerous books and articles on a variety of issues including organized crime and procurement law, and for a decade was an adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University. He earned his JD from the Notre Dame Law School, his BS from Cornell University, and is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, PC, Senior Fellow, is an international businessman, author, philanthropist and pollster. He was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party in the UK from December 2005 to September 2010. In 2011 he was appointed lead adviser to the Ministry of Defence for the strategic review of military bases in Cyprus. In 2012 he became a member of Her Majesty’s Privy Council in the United Kingdom, and was made the Government's Special Representative for Veterans' Transition and was appointed to the Board of the Imperial War Museum. He is also Treasurer of the International Democratic Union. Lord Ashcroft is the founder and Chairman of Crimestoppers in the UK, Vice Patron of the Intelligence Corps Museum, a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum Foundation Ltd, Ambassador to SkillForce, a Trustee and President of the West India Committee, Chairman of the Ashcroft Technology Academy, and Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. He is also a Trustee of the Cleveland Clinic in the US and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Lord Ashcroft’s life-long interest in bravery medals led to him creating the largest collection of Victoria Crosses (VCs) in the world, and this collection is on display at Imperial War Museum, London. Lord Ashcroft has written 13 books on the topics of bravery and politics.

John Batchelor, Senior Fellow, is a US author and host of the John Batchelor Show: a breaking-news radio program, also known as CBS Eye on the World, which focuses on global politics, economics, war-fighting, hard sciences, space exploration, literature, and whimsy. Four hours a night, five days a week, coast-to-coast in the US, the most rigorous news analysis in the New World, followed daily on podcasts in 192 countries. Batchelor was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1948 to an Assyrian/American family. His mother and father both served in the United States Army during World War II; his father also served in the Korean War. Batchelor is a 1970 graduate of Princeton University, a 1976 graduate of Union Theological Seminary, and author of seven political novels and Ain't You Glad You Joined the Republicans? A Short History of the GOP.

Prof. David Flint, AM, Senior Fellow, was educated at the Universities of Sydney, London, and Paris. He is an emeritus professor of law and was chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Press Council, president of the National Federation of the English Speaking Union, Associate Commissioner with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and convenor of the Committee of Australian Law Deans. He has been National Convenor of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy since the 1999 referendum campaign. The author of several books, he has published widely on topics such as the media, international economic law, and on the Constitution. At Barcelona in 1991, he received a World Jurist Association award as World Outstanding Legal Scholar. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1995.

Quinn Marschik, Research Fellow, is a strategic analyst working with the US Federal Government in Washington, DC. He has written on the People’s Republic of China’s foreign policy interests, US-China relations, PRC domestic politics, and other topics and has also been published in outlets such as The National Interest, World Politics Review, and Defense & Foreign Affairs: Strategic Policy. Marschik graduated with a BA in political science and East Asian languages and cultures from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MA in the social sciences, concentrating in political science, from the University of Chicago. He also studied Chinese language and literature at Peking University in Beijing. In addition to his interest in China, Marschik studies monarchy and other traditional governance structures.

George Bougias, Senior Fellow, is an economist, adviser and strategist specializing in real estate, economic geography and innovation. George has extensive experience across both private and public sectors including in senior executive research, consulting, and advisory rôles. During his time in the public sector George served as an advisor to the Innovation Economy Advisory Board (the Victorian State Government’s highest economic advisory body) and as an economist in the Department of Treasury and Finance and Department of State Development (Victorian State Government). George has a long-standing and active involvement studying and advocating for constitutional monarchy including as a member of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) and the International Monarchist League (Australia). George graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Economics and Politics).

Col. (rtd.) Frank Wickersham III, USMC, Senior Fellow, is currently Vice-President of the US global defense contractor, VSE Corporation, and consultant since 1993 to Falcon Group Worldwide. He is a highly-decorated combat veteran of the US Marine Corps, where he served as an aviator in fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. He is a widely-read strategic thinker who has worked extensively on aviation and veteran issues for many decades.

Dr Hal Gibson Pateshall Colebatch, Senior Fellow, was an Australian political philosopher and historian. We regret to inform that Dr Colebatch passed away on September 10, 2019. He had five degrees in Law, History, and Political Science. He had worked on the staff of two Australian Federal Ministers and at the Australian Institute for Public Policy. His book, Australia’s Secret War: How Unions Sabotaged Our Troops in World War II, won the Prime Minister’s Prize for History and had, so far, gone through seven editions; an eighth was being prepared just before he passed away. He was published widely in The Spectator, Quadrant, The Australian, The West Australian, and other publications. He taught at several universities, was the author of more than 20 books, and won a number of prizes, including an Australian Centenary Award for Writing, Law, Poetry and Political Commentary, the only award for this combination of activities.

Angelo Bartzis, Fellow, is an Australian lawyer mainly in the commercial law and IT/Technology sectors with extensive experience in both public, private, and international legal practice. He has acted in-house as senior corporate counsel for private international technology companies he has successfully negotiated landmark projects in Europe, Africa, SE Asia, the Middle East, and the USA. In the public context, he has also acted for the Commonwealth of Australia in the intra-governmental supply of radar technologies. Angelo has a broad interest in the analysis of the intersection of cultural and political aspects of past and present international alliances with a particular interest in the politics of the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Red Sea.

Kerry Boyd Collison, Senior Fellow, served in the Royal Australian Air Force from 1962 until 1970 including three years as the Assistant Air Attaché and interpreter in the Australian Embassy, Jakarta. Kerry carved a formidable niche in the Indonesian community. He was a founding member of the Young President's Organization in Jakarta and over 18 years established more than 20 companies and joint ventures in Indonesia and several educational institutions in Australia. In 1989-90, Kerry established TOPAZ TV, the first external satellite television service from Australia. Having lived in South-East Asia for 30 years, he brings unique qualification to reporting on events across Indonesia and writing his highly-regarded novels, which include: Merdeka (Freedom) Square, The Timor Man, Jakarta, The Fifth Season, Indonesian Gold, Crescent Moon Rising, In Search of Recognition, The Happy Warrior, Rockefeller and the Demise of Ibu Pertiwi. He is a Life Governor, Foundation for Australian Literary Studies Ltd, James Cook University. He has served for decades as Defense & Foreign Affairs correspondent for South-East Asia.

Omiros Fotiadis, Senior Fellow, is a political scientist based in Thessaloniki, Greece. He served in the Hellenic Army Special Forces in the Special Paratrooper Unit (ETA) and in the 1st Raider/Paratrooper Brigade. He remains an active skydiver. He also served the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has been the Director of Civil Defense and Protection in two counties of Greece. He served as Secretary-General in the Administration of Mount Athos. He is regarded as an expert on defense and intelligence, and his articles have been widely published. He is often involved in television shows in Greece and Cyprus. He is head of the ISSA and Global Information System (GIS) office for South-East Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, based in Greece, where the regional office of Defense & Foreign Affairs publications is located.

Maj.-Gen. (rtd.) Oliver L. Peacock, Senior Fellow. Maj.-Gen. Peacock, who is also hereditary Marquess of Debre-Berhan, had a distinguished US military and public service career as well as a highly-successful career in the private sector in the US. He served as a consultant to the Secretary of the US Army; as Commissioner of the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission and Commissioner, Florida Indian Affairs Commission, and on the Governor’s Advisory Committee for the State of Florida. He was owner of the O. L. Peacock Company, a private investment management corporation, and has served as a significant fundraiser for medical charities in Eastern Europe and Ethiopia. He served on the Board of Trustees of the National World War II Museum, in New Orleans, and continues to serve on the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina Military Museum. He was Military Secretary to the Governor of South Carolina, and, as a major-general, Command Advisor to the Adjutant General of the South Carolina Military Department. He also served as Commander, Special Operations, within the South Carolina Military Department. He was, in 1990, inducted into the US Army Infantry Hall of Fame, in Ft. Benning, Georgia.

Taylor Reed Branson, Senior Fellow, is founder of the Branson Group of companies with social and environmental purpose. He founded the US Farm, US Water, US Electric, and US Hemp organizations for the wide scaled global implementation of market disrupting, innovative technologies. He is a co-founder of First American Industries, reshaping the use of coal into Activated Carbon, Synthetic Oil Extraction, and Hydrogen Fuel applications.

Thomas Switajewski, Fellow, is currently a doctoral candidate in the Doctor of Statecraft and National Security program at the The Institute of World Politics, in Washington, DC. Mr Switajewski is retired US Army Officer of more than 20 years' service. He supported numerous US military operations throughout Europe and the Middle East. His last three years of service were devoted to Red Teaming Education at the US University of Foreign Military Cultural Studies.

Rear Adm. John Butler, USN (rtd.), Senior Fellow, had an extensive career in the US Navy, mostly connected with submarines. His flag officer assignments included: Program Executive Officer Submarines; Commander, Naval Undersea Warfare Center; and Dep. Commander for Undersea Technology at Naval Sea Systems Command. He had sea assignments on three USN ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), and on one major naval support ship. He served in design and construction roles for Los Angeles/ Seawolf/Virginia Class SSNs and Ohio Class SSBNs. He also provided support to the Royal Navy’s Vanguard-class and Astute-class submarines design and build programs, as well as providing support for the Royal Australian Navy’s Collins-class SSKs. He served as the technical lead for the US for the Russian Navy’s post-Cold War dismantling and disposal of former Soviet ballistic missile submarines, and supported the Egyptian Navy’s Romeo-class submarine upgrade program. He subsequently served 10 years in the private sector supporting national security programs. Adm. Butler was recognized by Australia and the UK for his vital support to their submarine programs, including being made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN).

Lt.-Gen. (rtd.) Lazaros Kampouridis, Senior Fellow, is the Near East Chief for ISSA’s Defense & Foreign Affairs group. He retired as a senior Greek military official and former Greek Defense Attaché to Türkiye. Gen. Kampouridis is a Graduate of the Hellenic National Defence School. He won his MBA from Nottingham Trend University, of the UK; is a graduate of the Department of History and Ethnology of DUTH and PhD candidate of Panteion University (Greece), while he served as a member of the Greek Diplomatic Mission in Istanbul from 1995 to 1999 and was Defence Attaché at the Greek Embassy in Ankara from 2013 to 2017. He retired from the Hellenic Armed Forces in March 2022.

Gen. (rtd.) Alkiviadis Stefanis, Senior Fellow, is a Greek politician, retired General of the Greek Armed Forces. From May 26, 2023, to June 27, 2023, he served as Minister of National Defense of Greece. He served as Chief of the General Staff of the Army from 2017 to 2019. From 2019 to 2021, he served as Deputy Minister of National Defense, and from 2022 to 2023 as Advisor on issues concerning the outermost regions and Mount Athos, in the Government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.