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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.

UN Security Council stalemate over virus

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats Bipartisianship

Comments: 0

The UN Security Council, which has not met for 12 days due to the coronavirus outbreak, is deeply divided over a proposed declaration on the crisis and holding "virtual" meetings to vote on resolutions, diplomatic sources said Monday.

The impasse comes as world leaders struggle to respond to the pandemic, with rivals US and China engaged in a war of words as medical experts plead for unified action.

"South Africa (a non-permanent council member) rejected (the proposed declaration) first. Russia and China engaged earlier, but later on also blocked it," a source told AFP.

The draft proposal, drawn up late last week by Estonia, highlights "growing concern about the unprecedented extent of the COVID-19 outbreak in the world, which may constitute a threat to international peace and security."

It also calls for "full transparency" over the outbreak -- wording seen by some to allude to US criticism of government secrecy in China, where the virus first emerged.

"The members of the Security Council urge the member states to put more emphasis on helping the ones most exposed and vulnerable to the virus and the populations in dire humanitarian situations," the draft, seen by AFP, says.

It adds that "no country can succeed alone."

A UN Security Council declaration requires the support of all 15 members to be adopted and published.

Uncertain schedule

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday that the pandemic was clearly "accelerating" as the number of deaths surged close to 16,000, with over 350,000 declared infections.

The Security Council, chaired in March by China, has not met since March 12, with most UN staff and diplomats from the national missions working from home to avoid infection, though the New York headquarters remains open.

On Thursday it must renew the mandate of UN experts responsible for sanctions imposed on North Korea for one year and extend the peace mission in Somalia for one year.

According to diplomats, the council must also extend the peacekeepers' mission in Darfur by two months, without modifying the numbers of troops.

Originally, the Security Council was supposed to decide on a gradual withdrawal to create at the end of October a political mission in Sudan and close its peacekeeping operation in Darfur.

Council meetings on Syria and Libya this week have been canceled, but it remains unclear whether the council will meet as scheduled on Thursday.

For 10 days, Russia has repeatedly opposed "virtual" meetings by video to allow voting sessions.

Critics point out that a "physical" session would force around 50 people to come to the UN, with one diplomat describing the Russian stance as "idiotic."

"We are for a physical presence (and) doubt that (voting) could be achieved otherwise," Russian deputy ambassador to the UN Dmitri Polyanskiy told AFP.

Photo: © Oded Balilty/AP Photo

The world is battling the COVID-19 outbreak which started in the city of Wuhan, China, and has spread around the globe killing thousands. The World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11.

(Pictured) A woman walks her dog under a "don't panic" sign hanging at the entrance of a food market that was shut down in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, in Tel Aviv, Israel on March 23.

Photo: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/un-security-council-stalemate-over-virus/ar-BB11BssU

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