Bruce Lawlor charged with developing comprehensive, policy-oriented study on Black Sea region's political future

30 Mar 2010

Bruce M. Lawlor, director, Virginia Tech Center for Technology, Security, and Policy, has been appointed to the Commission on the Black Sea to foster discussion about the political future of bordering nations.

The commission was established in 2009 by The Bertelsmann Stiftung, the Black Sea Trust (BST) of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), and the Turkish Economic Policy Research Foundation (TEPAV)

Lawlor, who retired from the U.S. Army as a major general, joins a former vice prime minister, foreign ministers, current and former parliamentarians, public intellectuals, and scholars primarily from the Black Sea region and the European Union. Countries represented on the panel include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

The Commission on the Black Sea is developing a comprehensive, policy-oriented study on the region’s future. Throughout much of 2009, it worked with regional scholars and stakeholders to identify economic, social, security, and political trends and to produce findings and conclusions concerning the region and its future. The Commission is currently reviewing and making policy recommendations to the Black Sea’s main actors in preparation for releasing its final report in 2010.

During a recent commission meeting in Berlin, Armando Garcia Schmidt, project manager, Bertelsmann Stiftung, welcomed Lawlor, stating that his “understanding of the region and of its political importance will enrich the discussions and the final policy recommendations tremendously.”

The Virginia Tech Center for Technology, Security, and Policy in the National Capital Region conducts basic and applied research on national and homeland security affairs with emphasis on the relationship between technology and public policy.