Norine A. MacDonald QC [1] is the President and Founder of RAIN Research Group an international research firm providing the latest on AI and Defense [2] .
She was formerly President and Founder of The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), an international security and development think tank founded in 2002 with offices in Kabul, London, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels and Paris, and field offices in the Afghan cities of Lashkar Gah and Kandahar City.
Ms MacDonald is Former Visiting Distinguished Fellow at National Defense University. In 2020 MacDonald authored, 'Killing Me Softly: Competition in Artificial Intelligence and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles' with George Howell.
She graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy in September 2020.
In 2018 MacDonald was awarded the U.S. Department of the Army Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service and also in 2018, she received the Distinguished Public Service Medal for exceptional service to the United States Army.
ICOS provides innovative analysis and recommendations on the connections between foreign policy, security, development and counter-narcotics policies. It convenes politicians, high-profile academics, independent experts and NGOs in order to accomplish its mission. It aims to work as the dialogue partner with senior policy-makers at the national and international levels in order to foster high-level exchanges and new ideas on bridging security, development and counter-narcotics policies.
MacDonald has appeared on CNN to discuss the destabilizing effect of poppy crop eradication on farmers in Afghanistan. In July 2008 she made a further appearance on CNN to talk about ICOS's report Iraq: 'Angry Hearts and Angry Minds'. [3] She also co-edited two books: Global Philanthropy and Philanthropy in Europe: A Rich Past, A Promising Future.
Since 2005 MacDonald has led an extensive programme in Afghanistan focusing on global security development. Through field research, ICOS investigates the relationship between counter-narcotics, military, and development policies and their consequences on Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts. The Council's reports and video footage provide insight into the deteriorating development and security situations on the ground, especially in southern Afghanistan, and make policy recommendations to a broad audience of senior policy-makers and experts in NATO countries.
As President of The Gabriel Foundation, MacDonald is a member of the Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation (NEF). This is a platform which brings together twelve of the leading philanthropic organisations in Europe. Within NEF, MacDonald is the Managing Director of The Mercator Fund, which launches and supports initiatives on Europe's role in global social issues. One such project is The Global Media Centre.
MacDonald is also a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Crisis Group (ICG). In February 2007, she was awarded the First Class Medal of Merit of the Italian Red Cross for outstanding contributions to international humanitarian cooperation. [4] In October 2008 MacDonald was invited to become a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
MacDonald has international experience in law, academic research, policy, advocacy and philanthropy. She has testified before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development and Standing Committee on National Defence in Canada, and the House of Commons' Defence Committee in the United Kingdom. In October 2009, she testified before the US Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control during a hearing on 'U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy in Afghanistan'. [5]
MacDonald's work has been featured in a long list of publications including the Sunday Times , The Globe and Mail , The New York Times , The Washington Post and the Daily Telegraph , while she has also appeared on CNN, BBC, CBC, CTV and Al Jazeera International. [6] She reports in her biography that she is a member of the Frontline Club. [7]
Before founding ICOS, MacDonald was a partner in the law firm Bull, Housser and Tupper, specialising in commercial litigation, charities and tax law. Moreover, MacDonald held several prominent offices as a Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia.
MacDonald holds a BA and an LLB from the University of British Columbia, and completed the Advance Management Program at INSEAD in France in 2005. She was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1997.
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental organizations, but some are semi-autonomous agencies within government or are associated with particular political parties, businesses or the military. Think-tank funding often includes a combination of donations from wealthy individuals and personal contributions, with many also accepting government grants.
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
Ali Ahmad Jalali is an Afghan politician, diplomat, and academic. Jalali served as the Minister of Interior from January 2003 to September 2005. He has also been a distinguished professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. In August 2021, amid the collapse of the US-backed Afghan government, Jalali was rumored to become the leader of the Taliban-controlled interim Afghan government, which he has denied on Twitter as "fake news."
Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American diplomat, public official, and foreign policy expert who served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001-2009) and the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007-2009). A specialist in Central/East European affairs and the former Soviet Union, trans-Atlantic relations, and political-military affairs, Dobriansky held key senior roles in the administrations of five U.S. Presidents.
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a specialist graduate school of Johns Hopkins University devoted to the study of international relations, diplomacy, national security, and public policy. SAIS has additional campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China.
Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. As of 2021, Afghanistan's harvest produces more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply. More land is used for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country has been the world's leading illicit drug producer since 2001. In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. By 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market. This amounts to an export value of about US$4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers. In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families. As of 2017, opium production provides about 400,000 jobs in Afghanistan, more than the Afghan National Security Forces. In addition to opium, Afghanistan is also the world's leading producer of hashish.
Opium licensing is a policy instrument used to counter illegal drug cultivation and production. It has been used in countries such as Turkey and India to curb illegal opium production. The main mechanism used under opium licensing is a shift from cultivation and/or production for the illegal market towards legal uses such as the production of essential medicines such as morphine and codeine.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank established in 2007 by co-founders Michèle Flournoy and Kurt M. Campbell. It specializes in United States national security issues. CNAS focuses on terrorism, irregular warfare, the future of the U.S. military, the emergence of Asia as a global power center, and the national security implications of natural resource consumption.
This article deals with activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency related to transnational crime, including the illicit drug trade.
Bolivia–United States relations were established in 1837 with the first ambassadorial visit from the United States to Peru–Bolivian Confederation. The Confederation dissolved in 1839, and bilateral relations did not occur until 1848 when the United States recognized Bolivia as a sovereign state and appointed John Appleton as the Chargé d'Affaires.
Jorrit Kamminga is Director of RAIN+ Ethics, a division of the RAIN Research Group, an international research firm working on the nexus between AI and Defense.
The Centre of Excellence on Public Security (CEPS) is a think tank based in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil which studies aspects of public security, advocating multi-dimensional responses to Public Security issues. The CEPS works to bring together policy makers, operational law enforcement officers and independent experts, for dialogues towards generating innovative solutions to complex Public Security issues. The CEPS is overseen by a Scientific Advisory Board, whose chairman is Raymond Kendall, Honorary Secretary General of Interpol.
The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) is an international think tank that focuses on Afghanistan and other conflict zones such as Iraq and Somalia. ICOS is a project of the Network of European Foundations' The Mercator Fund. The organisation was originally named the Senlis Council but later rebranded as the International Council on Security and Development to better reflect the interest and activities of the organisation.
Karl Winfrid Eikenberry is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from April 2009 to July 2011. From 2011 to 2019, he was the Director of the U.S. Asia Security Initiative at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and a Stanford University professor of the practice; a member of the Core Faculty at the Center for International Security and Cooperation; and an affiliated faculty member at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, and The Europe Center.
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For purposes of U.S. foreign policy, South Asia consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs as of 12 June 2017 is William E. Todd.
Mary Beth Long is an American foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Government official. From 2007–2009, Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and as such, was the first female civilian four-star military equivalent in the history of the Pentagon. She led the International Security Affairs (ISA) office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for policy for the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. She was also the first woman ever to be appointed as Chair of NATO's High Level Group (HLG), the highest-level responsible for NATO's nuclear policy and reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO.
Salamat Azimi is an Afghani politician who serves as Counter Narcotics Minister.
The Republic of Kazakhstan became a member of the United Nations on March 2, 1992. Kazakhstan was elected to serve on the UN Security Council for the 2017–2018 term. UN Secretary-General António Guterres in remarks to the UNSC recognized Kazakhstan's work to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction and global non-proliferation efforts.
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