United States Energy Security Council

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Journal of Energy Security

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Technology and Rare Earth Metals for National Security and Clean Energy

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Set America Free Coalition for Energy Independence

Mobility Choices for Energy Security


USESC Co-Founder

Robert C. McFarlane
After a distinguished career of public service culminated in President Ronald Reagan's cabinet as his National Security Advisor, Robert McFarlane founded his own energy development company, Global Energy Investors LLC, sponsoring major international power projects in Brazil, Pakistan, the Philippines, and China. He has also served as a consultant to foreign governments on energy, infrastructure, and privatization policies and is principal of Energy and Communications Solutions LLC. Apart from his business activities, Mr. McFarlane remains a respected figure in international affairs. He is frequently called upon to advise the U.S. and other governments, the U.S. Congress, and the news media.
Prior to his career in the public sector, Mr. McFarlane saw extensive combat as a Marine Corps officer after graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. Later he was chosen as an Olmsted Scholar and was awarded a Master's Degree in Strategic Studies from the Institut de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland.


USESC Co-Founder and Chairman

R. James Woolsey
R. James Woolsey is co-founder of the U.S. Energy Security Council. He specializes in a range of alternative energy and security issues. Woolsey previously served in the U.S. Government on five different occasions, where he held Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations, most recently (1993-95) as Director of Central Intelligence. From July 2002 to March 2008 Mr. Woolsey was a Vice President and officer of Booz Allen Hamilton, and then a Venture Partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners of San Bruno, California until January 2011. He was also previously a partner at the law firm of Shea & Gardner in Washington, DC, now Goodwin Procter, where he practiced for 22 years in the fields of civil litigation, arbitration, and mediation. During his 12 years of government service, in addition to heading the CIA and the Intelligence Community, Mr. Woolsey was: Ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Vienna, 1989–1991; Under Secretary of the Navy, 1977–1979; and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, 1970–1973. He was also appointed by the President to serve on a part-time basis in Geneva, Switzerland, 1983–1986, as Delegate at Large to the U.S.–Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks (NST). As an officer in the U.S. Army, he was an adviser on the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), Helsinki and Vienna, 1969–1970. Mr. Woolsey serves on a range of government, corporate, and non-profit advisory boards and chairs several. He served on the National Commission on Energy Policy. Served as Chairman of the Advisory Boards of the Clean Fuels Foundation and the New Uses Council, and a Trustee of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments. Previously he was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents of The Smithsonian Institution, and a trustee of Stanford University. He has also been a member of The National Commission on Terrorism, 1999–2000; The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the U.S. (Rumsfeld Commission), 1998; The President’s Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform, 1989; The President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management (Packard Commission), 1985–1986; and The President’s Commission on Strategic Forces (Scowcroft Commission), 1983. Mr. Woolsey has served in the past as a member of boards of directors of a number of publicly and privately held companies, generally in fields related to technology and security, including Martin Marietta; British Aerospace, Inc.; Fairchild Industries; and Yurie Systems, Inc. In 2009, he was the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and in 2010-11 he was a Senior Fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Mr. Woolsey was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended Tulsa public schools, graduating from Tulsa Central High School. He received his B.A. degree from Stanford University (1963, With Great Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa), an M.A. from Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar 1963–1965), and an LL.B from Yale Law School (1968, Managing Editor of the Yale Law Journal). Woolsey is a frequent contributor of articles to major publications, and from time to time gives public speeches and media interviews on the subjects of energy, foreign affairs, defense, and intelligence.
Mr. Woolsey served as senior advisor to the Donald J. Trump transition.

IAGS Directors

Dr. Gal Luft
Dr. Gal Luft is co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) a Washington based think tank focused on energy, security, and economic trends. He is a senior adviser to the United States Energy Security Council, a cabinet level extra governmental advisory committee. He specializes in geopolitics, geo-economics, energy security, Middle East and US-China relations. Newsweek Magazine called him a "tireless and independent advocate of energy security" and Esquire Magazine included him in its list of America's Best and Brightest. Dr. Luft has published numerous studies and articles in various newspapers and publications. He is co-author of Energy Security Challenges for the 21st Century (2009,) Turning Oil into Salt: Energy Independence Through Fuel Choice (2009,) Petropoly: The Collapse of America's Energy Security Paradigm (2012) and De-dollarization: The revolt against the dollar and the rise of a new financial world order (2019). He is author of Beer, Bacon and Bullets: Culture in Coalition Warfare from Gallipoli to Iraq (2010), and Silk Road 2.0: US Strategy toward China's Belt and Road Initiative (2017) . He appears frequently in the media and advisees various think tanks and corporations worldwide. He holds a doctorate in strategic studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS,) Johns Hopkins University.
Contact: luft@iags.org

Anne Korin
Anne Korin is co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS) and senior adviser to the United States Energy Security Council. She chairs the Set America Free Coalition, a strange bedfellow alliance focused on reducing oil's strategic importance and the Mobility Choice for a Secure America Coalition, an alliance promoting fiscally responsible, free market oriented approach to expanding competition among transportation modes. She appears in the media frequently and has written articles for Foreign Affairs, The American Interest, The National Review, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary Magazine, and the Journal of International Security Affairs. She is co-author of Energy Security Challenges for the 21st Century (2009,) Turning Oil into Salt: Energy Independence through Fuel Choice (2009,) Petropoly: The Collapse of America's Energy Security Paradigm (2012,) and De-dollarization: The revolt against the dollar and the rise of a new financial world order (2019). Ms. Korin appears frequently on Capitol Hill and her advice is sought by members of Congress. Her education includes engineering degree in computer science from Johns Hopkins University and work towards a doctorate at Stanford University.
Contact: anne@iags.org



Senior Fellows

Dr. Kevin Rosner
Kevin Rosner, PhD is a specialist in Russian oil and gas, security of critical energy infrastructure, and international energy-security policy. He is editor of the Journal of Energy Security. In 2006 he served as the Co-Director for the NATO Forum on Energy Security. He is a Senior Fellow both at the UK Defence Academy and at the IAGS. Dr. Rosner is the editor of a series of reports published (2005-2007) by Global Markets Briefings on Russian Foreign Energy Policy covering Russian downstream investment in Central European and FSU energy systems. Past positions held include Senior Oil and Gas Advisor, Thales Information Systems, Senior Security Advisor to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline company, Project Director with the Program on Cooperation with the Russian Federation at the OECD, and Project Manager with the UNESCO Science Division in Paris. Dr. Rosner is the founder of Therosnergroup® serving leading members of the global oil and gas community with intelligent energy and security analytical products.
Contact: rosner@iags.org

Dr. Isaac Berzin
Dr. Isaac Berzin is a highly respected authority in alternative energy. Dr. Berzin has been named one the 100 most influential people in politics, business, and science in 2008 by the Time magazine. His innovative work in CleanTech and BioTech has won several awards, including the 2006 Platts Global Energy Award for Energy Emission Project of the Year and the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Bio-Based Fuels Technology Innovation of the Year Award, and been widely highlighted by, among others, the MIT Energy Research Council, American Scientific Frontiers, National Geographic Magazine and the Boston Museum of Science.
As a scientist at MIT's Center for Space Research Dr. Berzin won a NASA award for his work on bioreactor design for the International Space Station. Dr. Berzin is an inventor of over 12 patents (some pending) relating to biomaterials, bioreactor design, biotechnology of microalgae, CO2 mitigation, and biofuel production. He works closely and collaboratively with leaders from industry, economy, academy, and US National Laboratories. He is a Senior Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (IDC), and an Affiliated Scientist at MIT. He holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Jack Lifton
Jack Lifton is an Independent consultant, writer, and lecturer focusing on the market fundamentals and end uses of the "technology metals," a catgory name he coined in 2007 to describe those typically rare metals without which the implementation of modern technologies would not be possible. Mr. Lifton was educated as a physical chemist and began his career as a researcher in the preparation and study of the properties of rare metals, their alloys, and compounds. He went on from there to a career as an executive in the OEM automotive supply industry specializing in the sourcing of nonferrous strategic metals. His work includes exploration, mining, technology device development and manufacturing, and the recovery of metal values by the recycling of not only metals and their alloys but also of metal-based chemicals used as raw materials for component manufacturing. Mr. Lifton has more than 45 years of experience in the global OEM automotive, heavy equipment, electrical and electronic, mining, smelting, and refining industries. His background includes, specifically, the sourcing, manufacturing, and sales of platinum group metal products, rare earth compounds, and ceramic specialties used to make catalytic converters, oxygen sensors, batteries, and fuel cells. He is knowledgeable in locating and analyzing new and recycled supplies of 'minor metals' including tellurium, selenium, indium, gallium, silicon, germanium, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, chromium, and the rare earth metals.
contact: lifton@iags.org



US Energy Security Council

R. James Woolsey, Former Director of Central Intelligence (Co-founder)
General Keith B. Alexander, Former Director of the National Security Agency, Chief of the Central Security Service and Commander of the United States Cyber Command
Norman Augustine, Former CEO, Lockheed Martin
William Ball, Former Secretary of the Navy
Geoffrey Bible, Former CEO Kraft Foods
John Block, Former Sec. of Agriculture
Harold Brown, Former Sec. of Defense
General Wesley Clark, Former NATO Commander
Rep. Chris Cox, Former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission
General Carlton Fulford
C. Boyden Gray, Former White House Counsel
Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Fed
Senator Gary Hart
Jeffrey Harris, National Reconnaissance Office
John Hofmeister, Former President, Shell Oil Co.
J. Bennett Johnston, Former Senator from Louisiana and Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee
Mary Landrieu, Former Senator from Louisiana and Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee
John Lehman, Former Sec. of the Navy
Mike Leven, President, Las Vegas Sands
Governor Linda Lingle
Prof. George Olah, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
William Perry, Former Sec. of Defense
Mary Peters, Former Sec. of Transportation
T. Boone Pickens
Donna Redel, Former Chairman, COMEX
Governor Tom Ridge
James Roche, Former Sec. of the Air Force
George Shultz, Former Sec. of State



In Memoriam

Milton Copulos (1948-2008)
For more than three decades, Milton R. Copulos was a prominent figure in national political circles. He served as a Cabinet-level advisor in the Bush and Reagan Administrations, working closely with the Secretaries of Defense, Energy, Interior and Commerce, as well as the Director of Central Intelligence. While working for the Executive Office of the President in the White House, he authored a number of important studies including the National Critical Minerals Report and Advanced Materials Program Plan, and the DOE's assessment of the Soviet natural resource base, as well as a number of classified documents. He was an advisor on energy to the Secretary of Defense for the Defense Industrial Base Initiative and the principal consultant to the Department of Defense on the Defense Environment Initiative.
Copulos is considered one of the nation's leading energy economists and an expert in the field of military logistics as they apply to energy use. DOD has used his studies in the area of energy alternatives as training materials for military officers responsible for matters related to energy and transportation. His study of the comparative economic costs of alternative fuels is considered the most comprehensive examination of these factors to date, and his book "America's Achilles Heel, the Hidden Cost of Imported Oil" has become a staple among energy researchers. Copulos was a member of the National Petroleum Council, the nation's highest advisory body on matters related to oil and natural gas for twelve years; serving on its finance committee for eight.
As a prominent expert on natural resources, national defense and international politics, Copulos is frequently called upon to lecture at prominent academic institutions around the nation. He has been a visiting lecturer at MIT and the Maryland University's Graduate School of Nuclear Engineering.
Copulos published more than 900 articles, books and monographs. His writing has appeared in such prominent national news media as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune. He is also a frequent contributor to periodicals such as Insight Magazine, VFW Magazine and Regulation Magazine. His book "Energy Perspectives" was a Washington Post nonfiction best seller, and for four years he wrote a nationally syndicated column on energy and environmental issues distributed by the Heritage Features Syndicate. He also appeared on nationally broadcast news and information programs including FOX News Network's "FOX and Friends", CNN's "Crossfire", and "War Room with Wolf Blitzer" as well as local broadcasts for major network affiliates. During the Afghanistan War he was an on-air military analyst for MSNBC.
A veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam, Copulos was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medals, The Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm and The Vietnamese Civic Action Honor Medal, as well as five battle stars. He is a graduate of The American University in Washington, D.C. and lives in Crofton, Maryland.


Dr. Stephen F. Paul (1953-2012)
Dr. Paul earned his Ph.D., 1981, M.Phil, 1980, and M.S., 1978, in Plasma Physics from Columbia University. Prior to that, he graduated from Cornell University with distinction with a Bachelors in Applied Physics in 1975. He is principal research physicist at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory. He created and patented the P-series fuels, a new, liquid, renewable, non-petroleum gasoline formulation which was approved by the Department of Energy. He was in the process converting an unused sludge plant in Trenton, NJ to process organic waste for fuel before he died..


Dr. Ruth Davis (1928-2012)
Dr. Ruth Davis was President and CEO of The Pymatuning Group, Inc. which specializes in industrial modernization strategies and technology development. Dr. Davis was Chairman of the Aerospace Corporation. She served on the Boards of Air Products & Chemicals Inc. BTG, Inc.; Consolidated Edison Company of New York; Ceridian Corporation; Giddings & Lewis, Inc.; the Institute for Defense Analysis, Premark International, Inc., The Principal Financial Group, Inc., Sprint Corporation, SSDS Inc., Tupperware, Inc., USO World Board of Governors, and Varian Associates. She has also served on the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine from 1989-1992 and as Chairman of that Board from 1991-1992.
Dr. Davis was Assistant Secretary of Energy for Resources Applications and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Advanced Technology. Prior to 1977 she served as Director of the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology at the National Bureau of Standards and as the first Director of the National Center for Biomedical Communications in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Along the way, Davis received many honors and awards:
Computer Science Man-of-the-Year for 1979; National Civil Service League Award; Rockefeller Public Service Award for Professional Accomplishment and Leadership; Federal Woman of the Year Award; Department of Commerce Gold Medal, National Women's Economic Alliance Director's Choice Award, Distinguished Service Medals in both the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. Washingtonian magazine once named Dr. Davis one of the District's most powerful women in a list that included Hillary Clinton, Jeane Kirkpatrick and Elizabeth Dole.
In 1993, the University of Maryland honored Davis with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Dr. Davis received all her degrees summa cum laude in mathematics. She obtained Ph.D. and M.A. degrees from the University of Maryland, and her B.A. degree from American University.



Professor George Olah (1927-2017)
Professor Olah received the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and is currently the director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute at the University of Southern California. In his pioneering work Olah revolutionized understanding of organic chemistry, leading to new discoveries, new fields of research and countless applications. He has made significant research contributions to the practical development of improved lead-free gasoline, cleaner high-octane gas and other promising nonpolluting fuels, as well as many chemical processes now used in pharmaceutical and industrial chemistry. His research has also led to the development of a new kind of fuel cell, called the direct liquid methanol fuel cell, that is a highly efficient and convenient source of electricity. His most recent research centers on the conversion of two greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, into useful fuels and products, investigations driven by his long-standing interest in energy and environmental issues. To find new solutions to these pressing issues, Olah is working to develop new, cleaner and renewable fuels, based on methanol, to replace diminishing oil reserves while reducing levels of greenhouse gases. His latest book Beyond oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy was published in February 2006. He was a member of the United States Energy Security Council.

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