"Drawing the Dagger: Local Insurrection and Global Insurgency in Contemporary Yemen"
Dr. Christopher Swift
University of Virginia School of Law
Tuesday, 07 February 2012, 1330-1500
Gray Research Center, Room 164,166
2040 Broadway St, MCB Quantico
In 2010 Middle East Studies at Marine Corps University established a Middle East Lecture Series. The current 2011-2012 series is geared toward the risings taking place throughout the Middle East and North Africa and is entitled "Orienting Our Sights on the Future: the Opportunities and Challenges of the Arab Revolts. " One speaker per month is planned from October 2011 to April 2012.
The fifth lecture in this series will be presented by Dr. Christopher Swift, University of Virginia School of Law. His presentation is entitled "Drawing the Dagger: Local Insurrection and Global Insurgency in Contemporary Yemen."
Christopher Swift is a fellow at the University of Virginia Law School's Center for National Security Law, where he specializes in international law, constitutional law, and contemporary armed conflict. An attorney and political scientist, Dr. Swift has conducted fieldwork in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union examining al-Qaeda's relationships with indigenous Muslim insurgencies. Dr. Swift previously served in the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, where he investigated transactions involving terrorist syndicates, weapons proliferators, and other sanctioned entities. He also served as an International Law Fellow at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, where he advised policymakers on sectarian violence in Iraq. Dr. Swift is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the American Society of International Law, and is admitted to the bar in New York and the District of Columbia. He holds an A.B. in Government and History from Dartmouth College, an M.St. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, a J.D. from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Swift is the author of the forthcoming book The Fighting Vanguard: Local Insurgencies in the Global Jihad.
Commandant's Commanders Program and Spouses Workshop
Location: GRC
Start: 10/17/2011
End: 10/28/2011
Commanders Program. Established by the Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1992, this semi-annual program is required for all Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels slated for command. This program provides enhanced situational awareness of current Marine Corps policies and programs, and provides a forum for discussing mission, readiness and Marine welfare issues.
Spouses Workshop. Established in March of 1993, this workshop was developed as a result of the success of the Commanders' Program. The workshop's purpose is to help prepare spouse's of slated commanders for their role as team members in the command. The workshop's goals are to present issues and concepts that commander's and their spouse's can discuss, to provide spouses's ideas and options, and provide spouse's an opportunity to interact in an atmosphere of support and encouragement.
Further questions and/or comments may be directed to Maj Lia Koloski at lia.koloski@usmc.mil.
Emerald Express Strategic Symposium Series 2011
"Shaping for Successful Transition in Afghanistan"
Marine Corps University, in partnership with the Defense Intelligence Agency
Center for Language, Regional Expertise and Culture and the Marine Corps
University Foundation, held its August 2011 Emerald Express Strategic
Symposium, entitled "Shaping for Successful Transition in Afghanistan" at
Gray Research Center, Quantico, VA .
The two-day conference brought together military and civilian practitioners,
U.S. academics, Afghan policymakers and regional experts to propose and
discuss current, as well as alternative, road maps for successful transition
of responsibility from NATO-ISAF to the Government of the Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan.
Click here to go to the Symposium Resources page where you will find transcripts and audio files from the symposium.
Further questions and/or comments may be directed to Mr. Adam Seitz at seitzac@grc.usmcu.edu or (703) 432-5260.
Emerald Express Strategic Symposium Series 2011
"Al-Qaida After 10 Years of War - A Global Perspective of Successes, Failures, and Prospects"
26 April 2011. Gaylord Conference Center.
The Marine Corps University, in partnership with The Minerva Initiative and the
Marine Corps University Foundation, presented this one day symposium. The purpose was to better comprehend the multi-dimensional aspects of the Al-Qaida threat in various theatres where it is operating or may do so in the future.
Click here to go to the Symposium Resources page where you will find transcripts and audio files from the symposium.
~~To receive a DVD set of the entire symposium, please send your name, organization and address to LtCol Sal Viscuso at sal.viscuso at USMC.mil or 703-432-5251.
America and Iran: Endless Enemies?
Monday, 28 February 2011, 1400-1530
Gray Research Center, Room 164,166
2040 Broadway St , MCB Quantico
Ambassador John W. Limbert
United States Naval Academy
This was the fifth lecture in a series being hosted by Middle East Studies at Marine Corps University entitled “Framing the Iranian Challenge”.
Ambassador (ret.) John Limbert holds the Class of 1955 Chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy. During a 33-year career in the United States Foreign Service. he served mostly in the Middle East and Islamic Africa. He was president of the American Foreign Service Association (2003-05) and ambassador to Mauritania (2000-03). In 2009-2010, while on leave from the Naval Academy, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department’s Bureau of Near East Affairs. Before joining the Foreign Service he taught in Iran as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kurdestan (1964-66) and at Shiraz University (1969-72). He has written numerous articles and books on Middle East-ern subjects including Iran at War with History (Westview Press, 1987), Shiraz in the Age of Hafez (University of Washington Press, 2004), and Negotiating with Iran (U.S. Institute of Peace, 2009). Amb. Limbert holds the Department of State’s highest award – the Distinguished Service Award – and the Award for Valor, which he received in 1981 after fourteen months as a hostage in Iran. Amb. Limbert holds his Ph.D. from Harvard University in History and Middle Eastern Studies.
"The Geopolitics of Northern Mexico and the Implications for U.S. Policy"
January 20, 2011
Cosponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Marine Corps University Foundation and the Reserve Officers Association
Featuring a presentation by David Danelo, FPRI; with panel discussion by George Grayson, FPRI and William & Mary; Andrew Selee, Woodrow Wilson Center; and Robert Killebrew, Center for a New American Security
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Place: Reserve Officers Association, One Constitution Avenue NE, Washington, DC
Free for Members of FPRI and ROA, and for guests of MCUF; $20 for everyone else.
For event details, visit:
http://www.fpri.org/events/2011/20110120.brief.danelo.html
This link may not be accessible from official Marine Corps computers
"The Operational and Policy Implications of Iranian Strategic Culture and Doctrine"
Tuesday, 11 January 2011, 1400-1530
Gray Research Center, Room 164,166
Mr. Eisenstadt is a senior fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Military and Security Studies Program. A specialist in Persian Gulf and Arab-Israeli security affairs, he has published widely on the armed forces, irregular and conventional warfare, and nuclear weapons proliferation of the Middle East. Prior to joining the Institute in 1989, Mr. Eisenstadt worked as a military analyst with the U.S. Government. Mr. Eisenstadt served for twenty-six years as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve before retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 2010. His military service included active-duty tours in Iraq, Jerusalem, the West Bank, Jordan and Turkey. He has also served in a civilian capacity on the Multinational Force-Iraq/U.S.
Embassy Baghdad Joint Campaign Plan Assessment Team; and as an advisor or consultant to the congressionally mandated Iraq Study Group, the National Academies Committee on Defeating IEDs, the Multinational Corps-Iraq Information Operations Task Force, and the State Department's Future of Iraq defense policy working group. He also worked on the 1992 U.S. Air Force Gulf War Air Power Survey. Mr. Eisenstadt earned an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and has traveled widely in the Middle East.
For more information, you can view the Middle East Studies Web Page here.
Emerald Express Strategic Symposium Series
:
"Confronting Security Challenges on the Korean Peninsula"
Was held on 1 September 2010 at the Gray Research Center
The Marine Corps University, in partnership with the Korea Economic Institute and the Marine Corps University Foundation, presented a one-day symposium. The purpose of the symposium was to explore the security challenges, political and military relationships, economic implications of unification, and human-rights issues within North and South Korea. In addition to panel discussions featuring renowned international experts, Ambassador Jack Pritchard and Lt Gen Raymond Ayres Jr., USMC (ret), gave the keynote addresses. Please click (here) to go to the Symposium Resources page where you will find photos, transcripts, and audio from the symposium.
~~To receive a 4 DVD set of the entire symposium, please send your name, organization and address to
LtCol Sal Viscuso at sal.viscuso at USMC.mil or 703-432-5251.
"Afghanistan: The Way Ahead"
Was held on 21 April 2010 at the Gray Research Center
The Marine Corps University, in partnership with the Marine Corps University Foundation, presented a one-day symposium. The purpose of the symposium was to better understand the integration of all inter-agency elements of national power in the pursuit of national security objectives as they pertain to USMC forces at the operational level. Click here to go to the Symposium Resources page where you will find transcripts and audio files from the symposium.
~~To receive a 5 DVD set of the entire symposium, please send your name, organization and address to LtCol Sal Viscuso at sal.viscuso at USMC.mil or 703-432-5251.
"Counterinsurgency Leadership in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Beyond"
Was held on 23 September 2009 at the National Press Club, Washington, DC. The symposium explored ways to improve counterinsurgency leadership, with particular attention to the leaders of American, Afghan, and Iraqi forces. Click here to go to the Symposium Resources page where you will find transcripts and audio files from the symposium.
MCU Middle East Studies AfPak Lecture Series 2010: "A Multidisciplinary Approach to AfPak Region and Its People"
Today's Pashtuns
"Presented by Qamaruddin Jabbarkheil
May 3, 2010 from 2:00-3:30 PM, in the Gray Research Center, Room 164-166.
For more information, you can view the Middle East Studies Web Page here.
Pashtun Counter-Narrative
Presented by Professor Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, James Madison University
Was held on April 5, 2010 from 2:00-3:30 PM.
For more information, you can view the Middle East Studies Web Page here.
Afghanistan: War of Necessity or Quagmire
Presented by Ambassador Peter Galbraith
Was held on March 25, 2010 from 2:00-3:30 PM.
For more information, you can view the Middle East Studies Web Page here.
Afghans' View of Afghanistan's History
Presented by Professor Robert D. McChesney of New York University
Was held on February 18, 2010 from 2:00-3:30 PM.
For more information, you can view the Middle East Studies Web Page here.
Social and Political Dissent in Pashtu Poetry: The Case of Malang Jan
presented by Dr. James Caron, University of Pennsylvania.
Was held Wednesday, 20 January 2010, at Gray Research Center
The General Graves B. Erskine Distinguished Lecture Series
Featuring Mr. Steven Pressfield, Historian and Author, speaking on "Tribal Engagement Concept"
Was held on February 2, 2010 at Little Hall, MCB Quantico
To read more about the Erskine Lecture Series, click here.
Photos of this event can be viewed here.
The MCU Winter 2010 Erskine Lecture, sponsored by the Marine Corps University Foundation, was held on January 7, 2010 at Ellis Hall. The speaker was the Honorable William H. Webster, Chairman, Homeland Security Advisory Council and former Director of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency. The lecture was not for attribution so a transcript is not available, but photos of the event can be viewed here.