Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Maria Salazar files FORCE Act to keep Cuba on state sponsors of terrorism list

Friday, January 29, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Terrorism Bipartisianship

Comments: 0

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar entered Congress this week eager to file legislation important to South Florida’s Cuban-American community. The Miami Republican introduced the Fighting Oppression until the Reign of Castro Ends, or FORCE, Act.

The bill supports the recent re-designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terror, a move announced this week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that reverses Barack Obama-era efforts to normalize relationships. The shift in posture notably comes just as President-elect Joe Biden, Obama’s Vice President, prepares to move into the Oval Office.

If Salazar’s bill becomes law, it will prevent the Biden administration from delisting Cuba again until the communist nation releases political prisoners and allows investigations by human rights associations, transitions completely away from the influence of Raul Castro and commits to free and fair elections. These are the same requirements to lift a U.S. embargo.

“As the daughter of Cuban refugees who fled the brutal dictatorship that continues to jail, starve, murder and systematically oppress the people of Cuba, I am proud to introduce the FORCE Act,” Salazar said. “The FORCE Act holds the Castro regime accountable for harboring fugitives of the American justice system, propping up the [Nicolas] Maduro and [Daniel] Ortega regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua respectively, and engaging in violent acts of terrorism across our hemispheres.”

Several other members of Florida’s House Delegation signed on immediately as co-sponsors including Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez, Neal Dunn, Michael Waltz and Kat Cammack. Other Cuban Americans in Congress, including West Virginia Republican Alex Mooney and New York Republican Nicole Malliotakis, also signed on, as did Oklahoma Republican Stephanie Bice.

“It is imperative that Cuba remain on the SST list for its support of foreign terrorist organization(s) such as the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and ELN (National Liberation Army), harboring terrorists such as Joanne Chesimard and propping up to (an) oppressive, anti-American dictatorship in Venezuela,” said Diaz-Balart.

Gimenez stressed Congress should enact a consistent policy so U.S. posture doesn’t waiver based on who sits in the White House.

“We must maintain a political posture of sustained pressure on the communist Castro regime in Cuba,” Gimenez agreed. “Cuba’s fluctuating status as a state sponsor of terrorist weakens our grip of enforcement of the LIBERTAD Act and undercuts our diplomatic efforts to transition Cuba into a freer and more open country. Since its existence, the regime has consistently supported terrorism against the United States and critical allies around the world. Cuba serves as an epicenter of socialism in the region, actively working to undermine legitimate governments throughout the Western Hemisphere that the United States counts as partners and allies.”

Photo: Maria Salazar prepares the FORCE Act. Image via Twitter

Link: Maria Salazar files FORCE Act to keep Cuba on state sponsors of terrorism list (floridapolitics.com)

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