Schar News January 2021

Air Force Veteran Uses His Expertise to Analyze North Korea’s Nuclear Program

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:46:28 +0000

Air Force Veteran Uses His Expertise to Analyze North Korea’s Nuclear Program Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/15/2021 - 14:46

George Hutchinson: ‘My research should be helpful for policymakers, strategists, and other practitioners since the issue of North Korean denuclearization is still on the table…’

Originally published on January 26, 2021

In 2015, after serving in the Air Force for almost 26 years and doing energy R&D work for the Department of Defense, George Hutchinson began looking for opportunities in higher education—mainly he wanted to get a PhD.

He settled on ��AV and is now a prospective candidate for a PhD in Public Policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government and a visiting scholar at Mason’s Korea Campus in Songdo, South Korea, where he supports the Center for Security Policy Studies Korea (CSPS-K). He is also a fellow at the Center for Security Policy Studies on the Arlington Campus, as well as the managing editor of the International Journal of Korean Studies.

Korea has long been a part of his military career, starting with his first assignment. Korean “culture, the people, the food,” he said, “left quite an impression on me.”

After returning to the United States from the year-long tour, he applied and was accepted to become a Korean linguist. This took him back to Korea for several assignments and provided him an opportunity to attend Yonsei University in Seoul for advanced language studies.

In 1993 Hutchinson was commissioned as a second lieutenant in logistics and was deployed to Misawa Airbase in northern Japan. From his station in Japan, Hutchinson was sent on multiple assignments throughout South Korea.

“My favorite assignment,” Hutchinson said, “was a short stint inside the DMZ in Panmunjom as the Joint Duty Officer for the United Nations Command, where on several occasions I had direct contact with the North Korean People’s Army.”

While he was working in R&D after his retirement, Hutchinson had the opportunity to join a small business called SecuriFense Inc., where he has helped the Air Force build a program for its bases in South Korea. He is still there today continuing to support the Air Force.

All these experiences have influenced his research interests, and he has written extensively about North Korea’s nuclear program for his dissertation.

“My dissertation looks at factors that have shaped North Korea’s decisions to develop nuclear weapons and the strategies used to advance and maneuver its nuclear program through periods of negotiation with the U.S.,” he said. "My research should be helpful for policymakers, strategists, and other practitioners since the issue of North Korean denuclearization is still on the table and will likely be one of the Biden administration’s major foreign policy challenges.”

Indeed, Hutchinson’s work has already caught the eye of experts.

“Hutchinson's research could not be more timely or more policy-relevant,” said Michael Hunzeker, associate director of the CSPS at the Schar School. “North Korea's nuclear capabilities have only increased over the past four years. It is a pressing challenge that the United States—and the Biden administration—will have to navigate.”

Hunzeker continues: “The fact is that we do not yet know enough about the evolution of North Korean thinking and strategy with regards to its nuclear arsenal. Hutchinson's dissertation will shed light on this issue. By helping us understand how North Korea has thought about nuclear weapons in the past, his work will provide insight into how it is—and how it is not—likely to use them to get what it wants in the future.”

Hunzeker also said Hutchinson is uniquely equipped to address these questions, citing Hutchinson’s lengthy Air Force career and expertise. “We're exceptionally fortunate to have him in our PhD program, and I have no doubt that his work will soon be making a splash.”

“I realized I could pursue a defense-focused public policy PhD, while taking electives found in the IR, political science, and international security areas,” said Hutchinson of his decision to pursue a degree at the Schar School. “This, along with the small class sizes, top-notch faculty and access to numerous research centers like the CSPS made the Schar School very appealing.”

Hutchinson will defend his dissertation proposal on January 28.

Schar School fact: In 2019, the Schar School provided $950,000 in funding to PhD students.

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Schar News January 2021

Schar School’s Terrorism Center Joins International Conservation Union to Combat Wildlife and Conservation Crimes

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:37:35 +0000

Schar School’s Terrorism Center Joins International Conservation Union to Combat Wildlife and Conservation Crimes Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/15/2021 - 14:37

The Schar School’s TraCCC will work with fellow IUCN member organizations in developing policies to combat natural resource crimes and illicit trade that endangers wildlife around the globe. Collage by Priscilla Tran/Schar School of Policy and Government

Originally published on January 19, 2021

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has admitted the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV as a member.

TraCCC will work with fellow IUCN member organizations in developing policies to combat natural resource crimes and illicit trade that endangers wildlife around the globe.

The IUCN, founded in 1948, is a Swiss-based international nonprofit with more than 1,400 government and non-governmental organizations from 170 countries working in the fields of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. The agency represents more than 17,000 scientists, policy-makers, and business leaders promoting ecosystem protections, creating economic and social policy for species survival, and establishing environmental laws.

“This is a great honor,” said TraCCC founding director Louise Shelley. TraCCC, based in the Schar School, includes faculty from across the university, including the chair of the College of Science’s Environmental Science and Policy, Alonso Aguirre, who will participate in IUCN efforts.

"We were asked to apply because of our pioneering work on addressing corruption in natural resources and addressing the illicit wildlife trade,” Shelley said. “Our webinars during the pandemic on these issues have reached people in over 40 different countries with more than 1,000 participants. We address emerging priorities for IUCN and we have the expertise to contribute to their understanding and policy in these areas. We bring a unique perspective among their American academic partners."

“TraCCC is doing cutting edge intellectual and policy work on connecting corruption with organized crime, and combating natural resource crime,” said Scott Hajost, senior wildlife policy advisor to the National Whistleblower Center in Washington, D.C., an IUCN member. Hajost submitted a letter of endorsement to IUCN on behalf of TraCCC.

Mason is one of only three U.S. universities with research centers that are affiliated with IUCN. Other American centers are focused on science at Cornell University and the Yale Forestry School. TraCCC brings a different perspective, Hajost added. “It is excellent to have a prestigious center like TraCCC, based in a university with the quality and caliber of Mason” in the organization.

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Schar News January 2021

Schar School Adds Intelligence Expert, Author, TV Commentor David Priess to Faculty

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 12:56:16 +0000

Schar School Adds Intelligence Expert, Author, TV Commentor David Priess to Faculty Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/19/2021 - 07:56

In This Story

David Priess joins the Schar School faculty. Photo by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

Originally published on January 13, 2021

Former CIA officer David Priess, the chief operating officer of Washington, D.C.'s Lawfare Institute and a prolific writer and speaker on intelligence and the presidency, joins the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV as Visiting Professor and Senior Fellow at its Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security.

Priess will instruct intelligence courses in the Schar School’s top-ranked security studies program and Master’s in International Security program, with a concentration on intelligence and the presidency, as well as teach a graduate course on intelligence analysis. Priess will also act as moderator for Hayden Center events and panel discussions.

“David Priess' scholarship at the intersection of security studies and the presidency makes him an ideal addition to our international security studies program faculty and to the Hayden Center,” said Schar School Dean Mark J. Rozell. “We look forward to his contribution of his experience and expertise and welcome him to an already stellar faculty.”

"David will be an outstanding addition to the Schar School and the Hayden Center,” said Gen. (retired) Michael V. Hayden. “No one better knows the history of the Intelligence Community’s President’s Daily Brief—he literally wrote the book on it—and his knowledge of intelligence analytic tradecraft will prove invaluable to our students. His joining me, Michael Morell, Andrew McCabe, Ellen Laipson, Robert Dietz, Ronald Marks, and James Danoy sets up the Schar School as among the best in intelligence-related education.”

Director of the international security program, Ellen Laipson, former Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council, said students will benefit from Priess’ breadth of experience.

"Our students in the Master’s in International Security program, and other Schar School public policy degree programs, will benefit from David's ability to put intelligence in the context of how national security decisions are made, from the White House to the inter-agency process," she said.

Priess served at the CIA during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as an intelligence officer, manager, and daily intelligence briefer. During the Bush administration, he personally delivered the President’s Daily Brief for more than a year to Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller and occasionally into the White House. Priess later served in management roles in the private sector and taught courses related to intelligence analysis and management at numerous government agencies and departments. For the past two years, he has served as a visiting fellow at the National Security Institute of Mason's Antonin Scalia Law School.

Priess has written two well-received books about U.S. presidents. The first, The President’s Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America's Presidents, relates how intelligence officials have used the President's Daily Brief to provide commanders in chief with the most sensitive information and analysis in the world. With a foreword by President George H. W. Bush, this book is the first to feature input from every living former president, vice president, and CIA director from previous administrations. Last year Priess hosted a Hayden Center discussion examining how and why the Presidential Daily Briefing is important; the discussion, which included Distinguished Visiting Professor and former acting director of the CIA Morell, was one of the most popular Schar School events of the year. (View the discussion.)

His most recent book is How To Get Rid of a President: History’s Guide To Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives. Covering American political history from the Constitutional Convention through the election of Donald Trump, it stands as the definitive survey of how 44 presidents have left office. Priess was interviewed by CNN’s Susan Glasser in a 2019 discussion about the book at the Schar School.

Priess appears often on national media including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, PBS, and NPR to discuss the presidency, national security, and intelligence issues. His writings have been featured in the Washington Post, Lawfare, The Bulwark, Foreign Affairs, The Daily Beast, Politico, The Cipher Brief, Foreign Policy, and the Houston Chronicle. He graduated summa cum laude from Illinois Wesleyan University and received his master’s degree and PhD in political science from Duke University. He has taught undergraduate classes at Duke University, the George Washington University, and ��AV.

Schar School note: A generous gift from the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation provides $450,000 in new 2021 scholarships for master’s students enrolled in the Schar School's security studies programs.

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Schar News January 2021

Schar School Partners with UiPath for Robotic Process Automation Initiative

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 12:51:29 +0000

Schar School Partners with UiPath for Robotic Process Automation Initiative Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/19/2021 - 07:51

In This Story

David Rehr

Originally published on January 11, 2021

The Center for Business Civic Engagement (CBCE) at the Schar School of Policy and Government has announced the beginning of the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Initiative going into 2021. This initiative, partnering the Schar School and UiPath, a leading enterprise RPA software company, will allow experts to determine RPA’s impact on government effectiveness.

What is RPA? RPA is the technology that allows anyone today to configure computer software, or a “robot,” to emulate and integrate the actions of a human interacting within digital systems to execute a business process.

RPA robots utilize the user interface to capture data and manipulate applications just like humans do. They interpret, trigger responses, and communicate with other systems in order to perform on a vast variety of repetitive tasks, only substantially better: An RPA software robot never sleeps and makes zero mistakes.

This can improve productivity, streamline operations, and speed up the delivery of service for public sector organizations, including governments. This initiative, specifically, will also study governance models to further effectiveness and efficiency.

“We are excited to partner with UiPath, a leader and innovator, and look forward to helping determine how RPA usage can improve the working of public sector organizations and succeed in meeting the ever-growing demand for services among stakeholders,” said David K. Rehr, director of the CBCE at the Schar School. “This is a critical endeavor and a timely moment in our history.”

“Our center at ��AV focuses on researching ways to make government more effective and efficient,” Rehr continued. “We have seen recent examples of RPA deployments throughout federal, local, and state governments helping to confront the COVID pandemic while protecting the safety of our citizens.”

“Mason has a history of innovation, technology, and studying public policy,” said Bobby Patrick, chief marketing officer of New York-based UiPath. “We believe the partnership is a great fit and will benefit citizens seeking greater value in public sector programs and initiatives.”

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Schar News January 2021

Despite Life’s Daunting Challenges, Schar School Senior Cassidy Whitehurst Thrives at Mason

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 12:47:43 +0000

Despite Life’s Daunting Challenges, Schar School Senior Cassidy Whitehurst Thrives at Mason Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/19/2021 - 07:47

In This Story

Robert J. McGrath

Lucas Núñez

Laura Walker

Cassidy Whitehurst, second from left, and other students with Schar School professor Anne Holton (then interim president of Mason), at Richmond’s Capitol.

Originally published on January 6, 2021

Cassidy Whitehurst didn’t know if or how life would ever get better. The ��AV senior from Chesapeake, Virginia, said she grew up with parents who were addicted to drugs and alcohol, and from fourth to eighth grade, she was living in hotels and cars.

Mason senior Cassidy Whitehurst. Photo provided.

“I was doing really bad in school and wasn’t involved,” Whitehurst said. “I kind of gave up because my homelife was so stressful.”

But a moment of introspection inspired her to take control of the future.

“I moved in with my aunt in seventh grade, and around that time I started realizing that I didn’t want to live this lifestyle anymore,” the government and international politics major said. “It gave me a lot of hope thinking about the future and how I could change the situation.”

It also inspired her to want to go to college and become a lawyer.

“[In middle school] I saw my mom go to jail when she really just needed help,” said Whitehurst, who added that her parents have since been doing better. “I thought she was treated wrong and think addiction is treated wrong. That sparked me to be interested in criminal justice reform.”

Whitehurst said she decided to go to Mason after a campus tour that filled her with excitement for the campus experience. Now that she’s here, she’s been making the most of her education in classes, as the Speaker of the Student Senate, as a Mason Ambassador giving tours to prospective students, and as a Virtual Learning Community mentor.

“I love being involved with Student Government because I get to help people within the George Mason community,” Whitehurst said, adding that she also serves on the Student Advisory Committee for the State Council for Higher Education for Virginia.

“What impresses me most about Cassidy is her ability to be calm and confident in difficult and complex situations, which happen regularly in Student Senate,” said Student Government Advisor Ben Endres. “She is a natural leader and well respected by her peers as well as the professional staff.”

She also works hard to ensure her peers feel heard and accepted, Endres said, and she seeks opportunities for her own personal development.

Before she graduates this spring, Whitehurst will be an undergraduate research assistant working with Schar School professors Robert McGrath and Lucas Núñez to create a database of legislation passed in the Virginia General Assembly. The work is for the ongoing Almanac of Virginia Politics, a massive tool that collects raw data regarding the Commonwealth’s legislative history.

The opportunities Mason has provided, along with the friends Whitehurst has made along the way, have been her favorite parts of her college experience, she said.

Professors like Laura Walker and Sharrell Hassell-Goodman have also been influential, Whitehurst said, citing their engaging teaching styles and how they encourage productive dialogue among students.

“Cassidy is humble, yet confident and extremely capable and talented,” Hassell-Goodman said. “I can’t wait to see what she decides to pursue in the future.”

Did you know?: In 2020, 114 Schar School undergraduates worked on faculty-supervised research projects, including the Almanac of Virginia Politics, and as Undergraduate Teaching Assistants, Global Politics Fellows and Nonprofit Fellows.

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Schar News January 2021

What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (December 2020)

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 12:36:06 +0000

What Were We Thinking? Selected Schar School Op-Eds (December 2020) Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/19/2021 - 07:36

Originally published on January 5, 2021

From the New York Daily News:

Donald Trump, Wounded Wasp

A wounded wasp is dangerous to touch; even a dead wasp can sting and injure long after its death. The venom that Trump is injecting into the nation is without parallel in our long history. He seems to be on a vendetta to do as much damage as he can on his way out.

—Jeremy Mayer

From Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:

Is Emergency Use Authorization the Best Way to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine to the Public?

While an emergency use authorization may be the speediest way for public health officials to begin a vaccination campaign, it may not end up shaving that much time off of a more traditional route to government approval.

—HyunJung Kim, Biodefense PhD Student

From the Hill:

How the American System Failed in 2020: Pandemic Politics

Trump never wants to be identified with a losing cause. That’s why he paid so little attention to the pandemic all year. As a result, he became identified with what was—for him—a bigger losing cause: his own re-election.

—Bill Schneider

From NextGov:

Artificial Intelligence in Government and the Presidential Transition: Building on a Solid Foundation

It is especially critical for the incoming administration to build a trustworthy AI environment. With a skeptical public, a majority of Americans recognize the need to carefully manage AI, with the greatest importance placed on safeguarding data privacy; protecting against AI-enhanced cyberattacks, surveillance, and data manipulation; and ensuring the safety of autonomous vehicles, accuracy and transparency of disease diagnosis, and the alignment of AI with human values.

—Alan Shark

From the Washington Post:

Five (Somewhat) Upbeat Predictions for 2021

Pay no attention to economic Cassandras who will inevitably point out that output or employment remains where it would have been if there had never been a pandemic. You’ll know the storm has passed when the unemployment rate falls below 6 percent, business spending on capital equipment surges and a new restaurant opens up where your old neighborhood favorite used to be.

—Steven Pearlstein

From the Hill:

Low Taxes on Corporations and Higher Taxes on the Execs Who Run Them Could Stimulate U.S. Manufacturing

The incomes of our top earners do, on the other hand, have additional negative impacts. They grow our nation’s unsupportable inequality.

—Frank Manheim

From the National Review:

The GOP’s Foreign-Policy Tribes Prepare for Battle

But beneath the surface, on a range of international issues, there is less underlying agreement within the GOP. Instead, there are some very basic differences over the future of American foreign policy. If anything, the Trump era exposed those differences, and — without a Republican president to rally around — they are about to come to the fore.

—Colin Dueck

From Asia Times:

For a Hint of Biden’s Foreign Policy Plans, Look to Libya

Unforeseen and often tragic events in the Middle East can demand a US response. But absent any major crisis, the new administration will try to shape its Middle East policies around Biden’s global themes of revalidating alliances, strengthening democracies as the best antidote to rising authoritarianism, and supporting multilateral efforts to end conflicts and to address the great transnational threats from climate change, terrorism and pandemic health crises.

—Ellen Laipson

From Zocalo:

It’s 2020. Do You Know Who Your Government Is Serving?

This booming state capture—the backdoor privatization by industry of government policies—increasingly entangles state and private interests in arenas from energy, education, and environment to finance and foreign policy. Jay Clayton, who runs the Securities and Exchange Commission, spent much of his law career defending the Wall Street firms he now polices. Many of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s top advisors come from the for-profit college industry in which she has investments.

—Janine Wedel

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Election 2020: What Lessons Can We Learn, and What Actions Should We Take?

We need to return to the idea of Election Day, as opposed to Election Week or Election Month. Unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise, most voters should show up at the polls on Election Day and show an acceptable form of identification to cast a vote. That provides the greatest degree of control over the integrity of the voting process.

—Bill Bolling

From the Washington Post:

Facebook and Google Cases Are Our Last Chance to Save the Economy from Monopolization

First and foremost, these cases represent a recognition that regulators and judges were asleep at the switch over the past two decades and failed to prevent monopolization in the economy’s fastest-growing sector and a linchpin of American competitiveness.

—Steven Pearlstein

From the Hill:

No, Biden Hasn’t Won Yet—One More Nightmare Scenario

Failing that, Democratic senators would have to deny the Senate a quorum, which would mean neither chamber would have picked a winner. Under the 12th Amendment, two-thirds of all senators must be present. If 34 Democrats leave the chamber, they can stop Pence’s selection. If they do, then all the GOP delay would have led to replacing Biden with…President Nancy Pelosi.

—Jeremy D. Mayer

From NNY360:

Parole Boards Must Balance the Concerns of All Parties

Victim’s testimony, a time-honored part of the American criminal prosecution process, has sent thousands of Wyoming offenders to prison. But justice is not advanced when, years later, crime victims are called again to give emotionally charged encores moments before parole panel members decide whether or not to release their offenders from prison.

—Public Policy PhD Alumnus Ronald Fraser

Schar School Fact: Schar School experts are quoted in, cited by, and contribute to nearly 300 media appearances a month.

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Schar News January 2021

1932-2020: Louise White, Former Professor and Department Chair

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 04:57:22 +0000

1932-2020: Louise White, Former Professor and Department Chair Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 01/10/2021 - 23:57

In This Story

Timothy J. Conlan

Mark J. Rozell

Louise White: ‘The world was a better place because Louise White was a part of it.’—Schar School Professor Emeritus Timothy Conlan

Originally published on January 5, 2021

Louise Giesey White, a longtime professor in ��AV’s Department of Public and International Affairs (PIA, now part of the Schar School of Policy and Government), passed away in Darlington, S.C., on December 26. Her family announced the cause of death was complications from the novel coronavirus. She was 88.

Dr. White was the chair of PIA as well as director of the university’s International Institute from 1991 to 1998. She also served as director of the public administration doctoral program. In 1997, Mason awarded her its first International Educator of the Year award.

“I worked with Louise for two years after I arrived at Mason in 1987,” said Timothy Conlan, professor emeritus at the Schar School. “She was a careful, thoughtful, efficient, and effective chair of our department. Even more important, she was a wonderful human being. The world was a better place because Louise White was a part of it.”

“While I never had the pleasure of working with Dr. White, as a fellow political scientist, I certainly knew of her work, especially her book, Political Analysis: Theory and Practice, which was a standard text for thousands of students over the years,” said Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School. “Louise touched the lives of thousands of students over the years and helped to build Mason into what it is today."

Dr. White graduated magna cum laude from Smith College’s Department of Government in 1954, the year she married her husband, the Reverend Edward Allen White. In 1969 as a Danforth Graduate Fellow, Dr. White entered American University in 1969 and earned her PhD in political science in 1974. As an expert in international development, she traveled to many countries, serving as a consultant on projects for the World Bank and for USAID.

Dr. White is survived by her husband, Ed, her five children, 12 grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. A memorial service will be planned for later, when friends and family can safely gather. Memorials may be made to Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church to support the ministries that were meaningful to her.

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Schar News January 2021