Prague Security Studies Institute
Encyclopedia
The Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in early 2002 to advance the building of a just, secure, democratic, free-market society in the Czech Republic
and other post-communist states. Its co-founder Roger W. Robinson, Jr. is a former chairman of the William J. Casey Institute of the Center for Security Policy
(CSP). The PSSI has a host of neoconservative connections and evolved out of the 1998 establishment of the National Security Assessments Program.
According to its website:
. The initial focus of the NSA Program was to enrich the national and regional debates with respect to the security-related dimensions of post-communist governance. Over a two year period, the NSA Program made substantial progress in informing and influencing the largely neglected national security policy agenda of the Czech Republic.
The NSA Program, headed by Petr Vančura, convened three annual conferences, each with over 200 participants. The first conference, NATO and Central European Security in the 21st Century held in April 1999, was convened on the fiftieth anniversary of NATO. The second conference, “A Tenth Anniversary Assessment of Central European Freedoms” in April 2000, was held to commemorate this historical development. The third, “Trans-Atlantic Missile Defense and Security Cooperation” took place in April 2001.
Speakers from eight Western and Central European countries and the U.S. attended each of these annual conferences. The distinguished speakers included former CIA Director, Hon. James Woolsey; former U.S. National Security Advisor, Hon. Richard Allen
; U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, John Shattuck
; Hon. Richard Perle
; prominent Soviet dissident, Vladimir Bukovsky
; former Advisor to the Prime Minister of Poland, Piotr Naimsky; Air Marshal and former Chief of British Defence Intelligence, Sir John Walker
; Professor of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
, Dr. Robert Pfaltzgraff, Jr.; German Ambassador Hagen Graf Lambsdorff; Sorbonne Prof. Franćoise Thom; Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Bonn, Dr. Holger Mey; Hon. William F. Martin
; Hon. Roger W. Robinson, Jr.; and Frank Gaffney
, Jr., President of the Center for Security Policy
.
In 2000, the NSA Program was spun off from the Civic Institute to create The Bell-Association for Freedom and Democracy. In the succeeding two years, the syllabus for a security-minded training program for future policy practitioners was conceptualized and led to the founding of the Prague Security Studies Institute in 2002.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and other post-communist states. Its co-founder Roger W. Robinson, Jr. is a former chairman of the William J. Casey Institute of the Center for Security Policy
Center for Security Policy
The Center for Security Policy is a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on national security issues. The Center was founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney, Jr....
(CSP). The PSSI has a host of neoconservative connections and evolved out of the 1998 establishment of the National Security Assessments Program.
According to its website:
- "PSSI's mission is to help build an ever-growing group of informed and security-minded policy-makers dedicated to the development of democratic institutions and values in the Czech Republic and its regional neighbors. PSSI offers programs that meet the critical requirement to equip new generations of young leaders to manage the complex, security-related challenges of the 21st century.".
History
The founding of PSSI was the result of nearly four years of planning and development. In 1998, the National Security Assessments Program (NSA) was created as an independent program within the Civic Institute, one of the Czech Republic’s first non-profit policy groups founded following the Velvet RevolutionVelvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
. The initial focus of the NSA Program was to enrich the national and regional debates with respect to the security-related dimensions of post-communist governance. Over a two year period, the NSA Program made substantial progress in informing and influencing the largely neglected national security policy agenda of the Czech Republic.
The NSA Program, headed by Petr Vančura, convened three annual conferences, each with over 200 participants. The first conference, NATO and Central European Security in the 21st Century held in April 1999, was convened on the fiftieth anniversary of NATO. The second conference, “A Tenth Anniversary Assessment of Central European Freedoms” in April 2000, was held to commemorate this historical development. The third, “Trans-Atlantic Missile Defense and Security Cooperation” took place in April 2001.
Speakers from eight Western and Central European countries and the U.S. attended each of these annual conferences. The distinguished speakers included former CIA Director, Hon. James Woolsey; former U.S. National Security Advisor, Hon. Richard Allen
Richard V. Allen
Richard Vincent Allen was the United States National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1982.Allen was born in 1936 in Collingswood, New Jersey. A graduate of Saint Francis Preparatory School in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, Allen received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the...
; U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, John Shattuck
John Shattuck
John Shattuck is an international legal scholar and human rights leader, became the fourth President and Rector of Central European University in August 2009. CEU is a global institution of graduate education in the social sciences, the humanities, law, business, environmental studies, government...
; Hon. Richard Perle
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
; prominent Soviet dissident, Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Bukovsky
Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky is a leading member of the dissident movement of the 1960s and 1970s, writer, neurophysiologist, and political activist....
; former Advisor to the Prime Minister of Poland, Piotr Naimsky; Air Marshal and former Chief of British Defence Intelligence, Sir John Walker
John Walker
-Politicians:* John Walker , U.S. Senator, public official, and soldier* John Walker , State Treasurer of Missouri...
; Professor of International Security Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, Dr. Robert Pfaltzgraff, Jr.; German Ambassador Hagen Graf Lambsdorff; Sorbonne Prof. Franćoise Thom; Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Bonn, Dr. Holger Mey; Hon. William F. Martin
William Flynn Martin
William Flynn Martin is an American energy economist, educator and international diplomat. Martin served as Special Assistant to President Reagan for National Security Affairs, Executive Secretary of the National Security Council in the West Wing of the White House and Deputy Secretary of the...
; Hon. Roger W. Robinson, Jr.; and Frank Gaffney
Frank Gaffney
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is the founder and president of the American Center for Security Policy, columnist at the Washington Times, blogger at Big Peace and radio host on Secure Freedom Radio....
, Jr., President of the Center for Security Policy
Center for Security Policy
The Center for Security Policy is a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on national security issues. The Center was founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney, Jr....
.
In 2000, the NSA Program was spun off from the Civic Institute to create The Bell-Association for Freedom and Democracy. In the succeeding two years, the syllabus for a security-minded training program for future policy practitioners was conceptualized and led to the founding of the Prague Security Studies Institute in 2002.
External links
- PSSI Official Website
- Neocon Europe Prague Security Studies Institute