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BASIC PRESS RELEASE

Monday 18 September 2006 - IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Counter-Terrorism Expert, Steven Monblatt, Joins BASIC as Co-Executive Director in Washington

The British American Security Information Council (BASIC) today announced that the respected counter-terrorism professional, Steven Monblatt, would be joining BASIC as Co-Executive Director in Washington, D.C. He will take up his post on October 10, 2006.

With increasingly complex foreign policy and international security challenges on both sides of the Atlantic, BASIC is moving to a new arrangement of Co-Executive Directors. Steven Monblatt, currently Executive Secretary, Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism at the Organization of American States (OAS) and before that, Deputy Coordinator of Counter-Terrorism at the U.S. Department of State and Professor of Strategic Studies at the National War College, will take up the position of Co-Executive Director in Washington.

Steven is a counter-terrorism professional with a broad geographic and substantive security background. He is an innovative communicator with over 30 years of experience in the U.S. Information Agency in the United States and abroad, and a political analyst with a strong record of problem solving. He is also at home with the media, and has fund raising experience in his current job of the last four years at the OAS. While in this job, he built from scratch a Secretariat whose organization and programs have been recognized by the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee as a model for other regional organizations.

"We believe with Steven Monblatt we have found someone with an established record of leadership who will be able to take forward our ambitious plans for developing a stronger U.S. footprint in 2007," said BASIC Chair of the Board of Trustees, Professor James O'Connell. "With Dr. Ian Davis (Co-Executive Director in London) able to increase focus on the United Kingdom, and the two working in close collaboration, we believe that we can increase our presence and effectiveness on both sides of the Atlantic. As BASIC continues to press for informed debate in the face of deepening international crises, we are very pleased to have Steven on board."

Monblatt said: "I am genuinely thrilled about the new post. Next year BASIC celebrates 20 years of bringing greater accountability to defense and security issues within the 'U.K.-U.S. Special Relationship'. Its research is respected and trusted, and widely used by many other organizations and individuals. There is an opportunity to shape the policy environment in the run up to the changes in U.K. and U.S. political leadership in 2009. I am pleased to be joining an organization that is dedicated to seizing this opportunity to begin shaping a different security agenda in Washington and London - one based on international law and cooperative U.S. and European leadership."

From October 10, Steven Monblatt can be contacted at BASIC's Washington, D.C. office:
+1 202 546-8055, x104 or by email: smonblatt@basicint.org

Notes for editors:

BASIC is an independent research and advocacy organization. We focus on transatlantic security and arms control issues as a means of creating a more stable and secure world. With offices, staff, advisors, governing board membership and patrons on both sides of the Atlantic, we play a unique role as a transatlantic bridge for policy makers and opinion shapers. To further this aim, we issue regular comment on international security issues. Journalists and members of the international security community are urged to check our Web site: http://www.basicint.org/ and sign up for our free BASIC email updates on:

• Iran
• Missile Defence
• Biological Weapons
• Washington nuclear issues

Other BASIC services and publications:

• BASIC Notes and Papers - frequent comment on topical issues
• BASIC Research Reports and Briefings - detailed information often prepared in advance of major international meetings on nuclear proliferation, missile defense, NATO, etc.

For more information, please visit our Web site: www.basicint.org or contact one of our staff members in London or Washington:

Washington, D.C.:

• Steven Monblatt, Co-Executive Director (starting October 10). Expertise in counter-terrorism, U.S. foreign policy and strategic security issues affecting U.S. and transatlantic security. Tel: +1 202 546-8055, x104; email: smonblatt at basicint.org
• David Isenberg, Senior Analyst. Expertise in U.S. military and foreign policy, biological weapons, U.S. military force structure, defense budgeting, terrorism, homeland security, intelligence policy, international arms trade, private military companies and general arms control issues. Tel: +1 202 546-8055, x103; email: disenberg at basicint.org
• Chris Lindborg, Analyst. Addresses transatlantic relations in her work, focusing on conflict management and the OSCE, NATO and the EU. She also monitors conventional weapons issues. Tel: +1 202 546-8055, x102; email: clindborg at basicint.org

London:

• Dr. Ian Davis, Co-Executive Director. Expertise in British defense and foreign policy, transatlantic security issues, the international arms trade, arms control and disarmament issues, and transnational terrorism. Tel: +44 207 324-4685; email: idavis at basicint.org
• Paul Ingram, Senior Analyst. Expertise in British defense, foreign and nuclear weapons policy, arms export subsidies and control, European security structures, U.S. foreign policy and Iran's nuclear program. Tel: +44 207 324-4680; email: pingram at basicint.org
• Nigel Chamberlain, Nuclear and Media Consultant. Works primarily on nuclear weapons and missile defense issues while sharing media-based information with colleagues in BASIC and the arms control community. Tel: +44 176 889-8641; email: nigelchamberlain at tiscali.co.uk