Once again national security decision-making has become a political issue.  One faction accuses President Obama of endangering our engaged troops by “dithering.”  Another argues the President is needlessly replicating President Johnson’s Americanization of a civil war.  How can those managing the decision process in the Executive Branch achieve the best likelihood of an acceptable result on complex and politicized decision problems such as this, and how should those of us on the outside evaluate their work? 

Tom Garwin is currently an independent consultant in the areas of strategy, valuation, measurement, and organizational performance. His clients include the Rockefeller Foundation, the Institute for Defense Analyses, and the Center for Advanced Studies on Terrorism.  Previously, Tom was the first Director of Impact Planning and Improvement at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Earlier he led a multi-disciplinary team at Science Applications International Corporation that designed experiments and measurement strategies to assess the value of advanced software and process reengineering in intelligence analysis; provided consulting services on technology, policy, strategy, and organization to corporations, the CIA,  and the United States Departments of Defense and Energy from Hicks and Associates, Inc; helped the United States House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services to understand the ramifications of the end of the Cold War as a senior member of the Committee’s professional staff; helped to establish the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s program on Peace and International Security as a full-time consultant; conducted policy research at the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the Brookings Institution, and developed strategy as part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.  Tom earned a degree in History at Harvard College and a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The event will be moderated by Professor Abraham Wagner.

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