Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

He holds a Ph.D. in War Studies (i'm not kidding).

Richard Falkenrath, special assistant to President Bush and senior director for policy and plans with the Office of Homeland Security, will speak on issues relating to terrorism and the future face of American security at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 at Occidental College’s Keck Theater.

Falkenrath, a 1991 Occidental graduate, will be the first speaker in the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Visitor Program. His appearance is free and open to the public. For a campus map and directions to the college, please visit here.

On academic leave as an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard, Falkenrath is responsible for drafting the national strategy for homeland security. He also develops the office’s budget proposals, coordinates approaches to improving the security of the nation’s borders, coasts and airspace, and coordinates the international activities of the office. Falkenrath reports to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Falkenrath previously served as executive director of Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the hub of the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s research, teaching, and training in international security affairs, environmental and resource issues, and science and technology policy. He also was a visiting research fellow at the German Society of Foreign Affairs in Bonn.

Falkenrath is the author and co-author of “America’s Achilles’ Heel: Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Terrorism and Covert Attack” (MIT Press, 1998); “Avoiding Nuclear Anarchy,” (MIT Press, 1996); and “Shaping Europe’s Military Order,” (MIT Press, 1995). He also has written numerous journal articles and chapters of edited volumes.

At Occidental, Falkenrath graduated summa cum laude with degrees in economics and international relations. He also was awarded a British Marshall Scholarship to attend the Department of War Studies, King’s College in London, where he received his doctorate.

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