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.

U.S. Reviewing possible "terrorist" designation for Houthis

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Categories: ASCF News

Comments: 0

By Jonathan Landay and Steve Holland
November 21, 20235:14 PM EST
Original article taken from Reuters

credit: Garitzko (Wikimedia commons)

The United States is reviewing "potential terrorist designations" for Yemen's Houthi rebel group in response to its seizure of a cargo ship, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday.

Kirby's comment was significant because one of the Biden administration's first acts after taking office in January 2021 was revoking terrorist designations of the Houthis over fears the sanctions they carried could worsen Yemen's humanitarian crisis.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who have been sending drones and long-range missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas, seized the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on Sunday in the southern Red Sea, describing it as Israeli-owned.

Kirby called the Houthis' seizure of the vessel a "flagrant violation of international law" in which "Iran is complicit."

"In light of this, we have begun a review of potential terrorist designations and we will be considering other options as well with our allies and partners as well," Kirby said at a White House press briefing. He called for the immediate release of the ship and its international crew.

The Bahamas-flagged car carrier is chartered by Japan's Nippon Yusen. It is owned by a firm registered under Isle of Man-headquartered Ray Car Carriers, which is a unit of Tel Aviv-incorporated Ray Shipping, according to LSEG data.

Iran has denied involvement in the seizure of the ship, which the car carrier's owner on Monday said was taken to the Houthi-controlled southern Yemen port of Hodeidah.

Yemen erupted in civil war after the Houthis, members of the Zaydi sect of Shi'ite Islam, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year.

Although a U.N.-brokered ceasefire collapsed in October 2022, Yemen has enjoyed relative calm as the Houthis and Saudi Arabia negotiate a settlement.

The country remains the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with some 21.6 million people - about two-thirds of the population - dependent on aid, according to the United Nations.

The Trump administration blacklisted the Houthis a day before its term ended, prompting the United Nations, aid groups and some U.S. lawmakers to express fears that sanctions would disrupt flows of food, fuel and other commodities into Yemen.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Feb. 12, 2021, revoked the designations in "recognition of the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen."

Comments

There are no comments yet. Be the first to add a comment by using the form below.