Wednesday, June 17 @ 2:00 p.m. EDT
Constantine Arvanitopoulos, Ph.D
Professor of International Relations, Karamanlis Chair of Hellenic and European Studies, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Constantine Arvanitopoulos is the Constantine Karamanlis Chair in Hellenic and European Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Constantine Arvanitopoulos is a former Minister of Education, and Professor of International Relations at the Department of International and European Studies at Panteion University, Athens. He is a graduate of Panteion University and holds an MA and a PhD in International Relations from the School of International Service, American University, Washington DC. He has been Lecturer on International Relations and Comparative Politics at the School of International Service at the American University (1987-89), Post-doctoral Fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University (1990-92) and Assistant Professor of Government and European Politics at the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University (1992-95). He was Chair of the Department of International and European Studies at Panteion University from 2006 to 2010. He was Member of the High Council of the European University Institute, Florence, as representative of Greece, for 5 years (2004-2009). His research interests are in International Relations theory, political theory, European politics and US foreign policy analysis. He has taught courses on theory and methodology of International Relations, European politics, and comparative politics. He has written books on Transitions from Authotitarianism to Democracy, on Transatlantic Relations, on US Foreign Policy, and a textbook on International Relations. His latest book is on European Liberalism. He is currently writing a book on the Greco-Roman Origins of Republicanism. His latest appointments include the following: Member of the Greek Parliament with New Democracy. He served as Minister of Education from June 2012 until June, 2014. During his tenure as Minister of Education he run the Presidency of the European Council (level of Ministers of Education) for 6 months (1/1/2014 – 31/6/2014) and was in close cooperation with the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, for the support of Erasmus+ Initiatives for policy innovation. On November 11, 2011 he was appointed Alternate Minister of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religion in the coalition Government of Lucas Papademos. He was Director of the Political Office of the President of New Democracy from 2009-2011. He was the Director General of the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy from 2000 to 2010. He has also served as Representative of the New Democracy Party (ND) to the National Council of Foreign Policy, Member of the Academic Council of the Centre for European Studies (CES) and Member of the Board of Directors of UNESCO-Greece. He was the spokesperson for the New Democracy Party during the national elections of September 2007.
Doug Bandow
Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute
Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He previously was affiliated with the Heritage Foundation and Competitive Enterprise Institute. He writes weekly columns for the American Conservative online and Antiwar.com. Previously a columnist for Forbes online, a nationally syndicated columnist with Copley News Service, and editor of the monthly political magazine Inquiry, he has been widely published in such periodicals as Foreign Policy, Orbis, National Interest, Time, Newsweek, and Fortune, as well as leading newspapers including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. He has written several books, including Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire (Xulon Press), Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World (Cato Institute), and The Politics of Plunder: Misgovernment in Washington (Transaction). He is co-author of The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relationship with North and South Korea (Palgrave/Macmillan).
He received his B.S. in Economics from Florida State University in 1976 and his J.D. from Stanford University in 1979. He is a member of the California and Washington, D.C. bars.
Thanos P. Dokos, Ph.D
Alternate National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Greece
Mr. Dokos received his Ph.D. in International Relations from Cambridge University and has held research posts at the Hessische Stiftung Friedens und Konfliktforschung (1989-90) and the Center for Science and International Affairs (CSIA) at Harvard University (1990-91). He served as the Director for Research, Strategic Studies Division, Hellenic Ministry of National Defence (1996-98) and as an Advisor on NATO issues to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-1999). He was a NATO research fellow for 1996-98. He was the Director of Research (1999-2006) and then the Director-General of the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)[2006-2019]. He is currently (Nov. 2019- ) the Alternate National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Greece. He has taught at the Universities of Athens and Piraeus, the Hellenic National Defence College, the Diplomatic Academy and the Hellenic National Security School. His research interests include global trends, international security, Greek-Turkish relations & Mediterranean security.
Selected recent publications include: “White Paper on Greek Foreign Defence and Security Policy (ed., in Greek), ELIAMEP, March 2016; “The Eastern Mediterranean in 2020: Possible Scenarios and Policy Recommendations” (ed.), ELIAMEP-KAS Policy Paper, April 2016; Greece in Bartles, Kellner & Optenhoegel (eds), ‘Strategic Autonomy and the Defence of Europe’, Dietz, Bonn, 2017; The EU and the Western Balkans as a Single Security Spacein ‘Resilience in the WesternBalkans’, EUISS Report, September 2017; Defence expenditures in the Mediterranean and the Gulf region: the impact on regional security, Mediterranean Yearbook 2019.
Nick Larigakis
President, American Hellenic Institute
Nick Larigakis has held different positions with the AHI since joining the organization in 1987. He received his B.A. in Political Science from the College of New Jersey, and did post graduate work in International Affairs at the American University in Washington, DC. For his work in support of Hellenism, Mr. Larigakis has been honored with the 1995 Hermes Expo International Award, the 2007 Hellenic News of America Award, the 2008 Society of the Argonauts Award, and by the Greek Independence Day Committee of Tarpon Springs, FL, where he served as Honorary Grand Marshall of the 2001 and 2009 parades.
Other recognitions include an honorary award from the Hellenic National Defense General Staff. He is a member of AHEPA, and received the Inaugural AHEPA Outstanding Public Advocacy Award (April 2012). During the 2004 Olympic Games he served as a volunteer. In 2003, Mr. Larigakis was invested as an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. As of the fall of 2013, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the American Community Schools of Athens and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation USA. In 2015, he received the St. Katherine Community Service Award in Falls Church, Virginia.