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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.

Taliban says no to Afghan negotiators

Monday, March 30, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats National Preparedness

Comments: 0

The Taliban on Saturday rejected an Afghan government negotiation team set up to hold talks with the insurgent group in a bid to end the country's 18-year-old conflict. 

After months of delays, the government on Friday announced a 21-member team -- including five women -- to take part in the upcoming talks, a crucial step in bringing the warring parties to the table and getting a floundering, US-led peace process back on track.

But the Taliban in a statement said the government had failed to put forward an "inclusive" team. 

"We shall only sit for talks with a negotiation team that conforms with our agreements and is constituted in accordance with the laid out principles," the statement said.

"In order to reach true and lasting peace, the aforementioned team must be agreed upon by all effective Afghan sides," it said, adding that the majority of those involved in the "intra-Afghan" talks had rejected the team, without specifying which parties.

Under a deal signed by the US and the Taliban last month, the insurgents agreed to resume talks with the Afghan government and discuss a possible ceasefire. 

In return, the US and foreign partner forces agreed to withdraw from Afghanistan over the next 14 months.

The Taliban had previously refused to meet with the administration of President Ashraf Ghani, calling him an American stooge. 

The Kabul government said the negotiating team would be led by former intelligence chief Masoom Stanekzai and include Batur Dostum, whose father Abdul Rashid Dostum -- a notorious former warlord -- is accused of human rights violations.

It is not clear when or where the "intra-Afghan" talks would start, but the Taliban has not heeded calls for a ceasefire, instead intensifying their attacks across the country. 

On Friday, the militants attacked several districts of northeastern Badakhshan province, capturing three districts and killing at least 10 Afghan security forces, an official said.

Several Taliban fighters were also killed when reinforcements were sent to the area, the defence ministry said.

Photo: © NOORULLAH SHIRZADA Afghan Taliban militants and villagers celebrate the peace deal with the US in early March 2020, but the insurgents have rejected the negotiators named by the government in Kabul

Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/taliban-says-no-to-afghan-negotiators/ar-BB11Qs2Y

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