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Potomac Institute Welcomes Eric Womble, Senior Fellow

Eric Womble joins the Potomac Institute with many years of experience in the defense industry and the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. federal government.

Mr. Womble was an executive at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and Huntington Ingalls Industries from 2004 through 2012. He was initially responsible for Large Deck Amphibious program and then the Advanced Capabilities Group that did R&D, strategic planning, advanced concepts and new business development for the Shipbuilding sector, which had $6 billion in annual sales. While at HII and Northrop Grumman Corporation, he also served in leading Corporate Programs Division. 

He has over 23 years of experience serving in the Executive and Legislative Branches of the United States federal government.  He became the National Security Advisor for Senator Trent Lott, Mississippi, in 1995.  He was instrumental in setting and passing legislation and appropriations that positively impacted the Department of Defense, its service members and their families.  He also coordinated all military, legislative and budget activities with the Pentagon, other Congressional offices, industry, academic institutions, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Defense and Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittees.

Read more: Potomac Institute Welcomes New Senior Fellow

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The Potomac Institute is Pleased to Announce "AL GRAY, MARINE: The Early Years, 1950-1967, Vol I" by Scott Laidig is Available for Purchase

All net proceeds will be donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund 

The Potomac Institute Press is pleased to announce that AL GRAY, MARINE: The Early Years, 1950-1967; Volume 1 by Scott Laidig is now available for purchase. This first volume of the AL GRAY, MARINE series has been released in hardbound and Kindle versions only.  Click here to purchase the hardbound edition from the Potomac Institute Bookstore text, see samples, and read endorsements. Click here to purchase to purchase the Kindle version from Amazon.com.  Click here to purchase  the hardback version from Amazon.com. 

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Promoting peace and religious tolerance is the best way to reclaim territory from extreme branches of religion, and experts and leaders on these topics gathered May 9 at a panel discussion co-hosted by the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies (Potomac Institute for Policy Studies) and the International Law Institute.

Introducing “The Power of Sufism to Resist Radical Thoughts in Islam,” Kim Phan, Executive Director of the International Law Institute, said that to achieve economic growth in developing countries, the rule of law and security need to be in place.

Professor Yonah Alexander, Director, Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies, observed that if quantity and quality of tolerance and ecumenical reconciliation can be raised, than the better chance for more peaceful resolutions of conflicts worldwide.

Khawaja Farooq Renzu Shah, the keynote speaker, said Sufism has historically played a role in promoting peace and religious tolerance, and that it can reclaim that role from the more extreme brands of Islam that have recently begun to take hold across the world.

Read more: Current Issues: Potomac Institute co-hosts discussion on "The Power of Sufism to Resist Radical Thoughts in Islam"

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In the News: Potomac Institute is focus in Cyber Security Policy article - National Defense Magazine

Amb David Smith, Potomac Institute Cyber Center director, was featured as cybersecurity policy expert in an upcoming (June) article of National Defense Magazine.  The article discusses the President's executive order aimed at guarding critical infrastructure in private hands from cyber-espionage and attacks:

“With the possible exception of the electricity grid, there are no bigger targets than the defense industrial base,” said former Ambassador David J. Smith, who now serves as the director of the Potomac Institute’s Cyber Center. The institute is an Arlington, Va.-based think tank.
The widespread theft of intellectual property from U.S. defense firms by hackers in China and Russia are operations of strategic importance, Smith said. 
“We are talking about nation states targeting the U.S. government and the holders of its intellectual property,” he said. China and Russia are trying to equalize their technology with the United States and cannot do it on their own.

...The problem can be tackled without strict laws, Smith said. Industry is saying, “Please don’t give us a bunch of rules and regulations that are going to be outdated literally before the ink dries,” he said.
Technology moves fast. Congress moves slowly. It is best to have broad mandates, he said.
The legislation should set up performance-based goals companies should meet, and make them structure their solutions so their defenses against network intrusions can be tested. But they should be free to come up with their own ideas, Smith said.

There are some positive signs this year as lawmakers again try to pass cybersecurity legislation, he said.

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2013/June/Pages/DefenseIndustrialBaseWaryofCybersecurityLaws.aspx

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Potomac Institute Welcomes Michael Shank, Senior Fellow

Michael Shank is now a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.  He is the former Staff Director for Minority Members, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. House of Representatives. 

Previously, Mr. Shank was the first NSA/CSS Representative to USCYBERCOM.  As the senior advisor, he provided technical knowledge, insight and leadership to optimize NSA/CSS enterprise support to USCYBERCOM and their service components.  Prior to that assignment, he served as the Deputy NSA Chief of Staff for Cyber and was responsible for Cyber Strategy and Policy and for NSA/CSS support to planning for USCYBERCOM.

He is viewed as an imaginative theorist and operational planner for the employment of Cyber and Intelligence operations. As a direct outcome of his contributions, the NSA/CSS and the U.S. CYBERCOMMAND served as key sources of technical expertise and operational capability for projecting power and conducting defense in cyberspace.

Read more: Potomac Institute Welcomes Michael Shank, Senior Fellow - Cyber and Intel Focus

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Potomac Institute was front and center at TEDx Tblisi!  Cyber-security expert and our own Associate Academic Fellow Khatuna Mshvidobadze examined the rapidly changing world of cyber security, linking day-to-day computing to the world of cyber-warfare. She is an Associate Academic Fellow at the Potomac Institute Cyber Center in the US and a Senior Associate at the Georgian Security Analysis Center.

Check it out! -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjS9ns1G1ek

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.