Board of Advisors
The International Scholar’s Board of Advisors members provide seasoned insight and guidance in their areas of policy expertise and experience to the Board of Directors, Editorial Board, and general Staff of The International Scholar. The Board’s purpose is not only to advise, but to form part of a bridge for inter-generational dialogue for reflection, development, and evolution of new ways of approaching, analyzing, and solving issues in international affairs, public policy, economics, and governance.
Amb. Rajiv Bhatia
Expertise: Indo-Pacific (including Southeast Asia), Myanmar, South Asia, Africa, Blue Economy, Multilateral Groupings, Indian Foreign Policy and Diplomacy
Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia is Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Programme at Gateway House,. He is a member of CII’s two significant bodies: International Trade Policy Council and Africa Committee. He served as Chair of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s (FICCI) Core Group of Experts on BIMSTEC and continues to head its Task Force on Blue Economy. He is a founding member of the Kalinga International Foundation and a member of the governing council of Asian Confluence.
Larry Chalmer
Expertise: Europe, U.S., NATO, Defense Policy, Defense Operations, Aviation, Public Speaking
Lawrence “Larry” Chalmer teaches as a Professor Emeritus (2013 - Present) at the U.S. National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, D.C. — a premier center for Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) for the United States, under the direction of the Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff — and has served as an occasional Public Diplomacy envoy and speaker for the Department of State since 2012.
Katarina Kertysova
Expertise: International Security, Defense, NATO, Transatlantic Relations, Eastern Europe, European Union, Russia
Katarina Kertysova is a Policy Fellow with the European Leadership Network (ELN) in London and a Global Fellow with the Wilson Center in Washington D.C., where she previously worked as the George F. Kennan Fellow at the Kennan Institute.
Mark Randol
Expertise: U.S. National Security, Domestic Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Aviation, Public Speaking, Writing
Mark Randol is an expert lecturer, guest speaker, consultant, and retired career civil servant. Mark Randol retired from civil service in May 2011 after 35 years of military and Federal civil service, and moved to the wine country of the Sonoma Valley East of Santa Rosa, California. He has taught college courses in domestic terrorism and counterintelligence; lectures at the University of Southern California’s Viterbe School of Engineering on aviation security; and teaches U.S. Coast Guard-certified maritime security courses. He also provides security consulting services for, among other clients, the Bank of Canada (Ottawa), United Airlines, the Palo Alto Jewish Community Center, and several independent schools.
Jim Townsend
Expertise: Transatlantic Affairs, U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, NATO, Europe, Russia, Arctic Affairs
James “Jim” Townsend Jr. is an Adjunct Senior Fellow in the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) — a prominent U.S. national security and foreign policy studies think tank in D.C. — where he co-hosts the Brussels Sprouts podcast with Dr. Andrea Kendall-Taylor.