American Security Project Welcomes New Adjunct Fellow on Defense and National Security Issues
Former Wall Street Journal reporter, August Cole, joins ASP
WASHINGTON, D.C., 17 May 2011 – The American Security Project (ASP) today announced the addition of August Cole as a new Adjunct Fellow focusing on defense budgets, the health of the defense industrial base and national security issues.
Dr. Jim Ludes, Executive Director of ASP, said: “August is an expert on a broad range of national security issues. His work as a journalist for the Wall Street Journal offers our organization an expert who can speak substantively and ask hard questions about the complex budget issues facing the defense industry. We are thrilled to have him join ASP.
Dr. Ludes went on to say: “No one can listen to the current debate about budget deficits and not realize that defense spending is in the cross-hairs. At ASP we are committed to bringing informed, rigorous analysis to this debate. As a nation we have to understand that the choices we make about our defense budget today will affect what we can ask of our military for a generation. These are issues of significance, and we’re thrilled that someone with August Cole’s instinct and experience will be working with us.”
From 2007 to 2010, August Cole reported on the defense industry for The Wall Street Journal. From 1998 to 2006, he worked as an editor and a reporter for MarketWatch.com, a financial Web site, where he began covering the aerospace and defense industry. In 1998, he worked as an intern at the Freedom Forum’s European Centre in London and as an intern at the NBC News London bureau. Cole earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Diplomatic History and French from the University of Pennsylvania and earned a Master in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is currently writing a series of novels about private military contractors involved in covert and clandestine intelligence operations for the U.S. Read his full bio here.
August Cole said: “I’m honored to join ASP and count its accomplished members as colleagues. ASP’s mission to confront the country’s most pressing and challenging national security issues is one I strongly identify with.”
Cole continued: “The Defense Department and the defense industry are at a crossroads. More than ever there’s a need for fresh analysis and insight so sensible choices can be made in the face of rising fiscal pressures and shifting policy priorities. This crossroads moment offers a rare chance to begin a substantial debate about breaking old models and considering new ones that offer better outcomes for American taxpayers, the armed forces and the defense industry.”
Download the press release here.
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About the American Security Project: The American Security Project is a non-profit, bipartisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges. For more information, visit www.americansecurityproject.org.
