Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) is a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. that seeks to promote bipartisan solutions to today's critical national security and foreign policy issues. Created by former Congressman Lee H. Hamilton and former Senator Warren Rudman (R-NH) in 2005, the Partnership for a Secure America works with leading Democrats and Republicans to rebuild the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy.
Advisory Board
The Partnership for a Secure America Congressional Fellowship - Final Video.
Current members of Partnership for a Secure America's bipartisan Advisory Board include:
- Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State 1997-2001
- William Cohen, Secretary of Defense 1997-2001
- Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State 2001-2009
- Slade Gorton, US Senator (R-WA) 1981-1987, 1989-2001
- Lee Hamilton, US Congressman (D-IN) 1981-1987, 1989-2001, Vice-Chair of the 9/11 Commission
- Gary Hart, US Senator (D-CO) 1975-1987
- Rita Hauser, Chair, International Peace Institute, 1992â€"present
- Carla Hills, US Trade Representative 1989-1993
- Nancy Kassebaum-Baker, US Senator (R-KS) 1978-1997
- Thomas Kean, Governor (R-NJ) 1982-1990, Chairman of the 9/11 Commission
- John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy 1981-1987
- Richard Lugar, US Senator (R-IN) 1977-2013
- Robert McFarlane, National Security Advisor 1983-1985
- Donald McHenry, Ambassador to the United Nations 1979-1981
- Sam Nunn, US Senator 1972-1996
- Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense 2011-2013
- William Perry, Secretary of Defense 1994-1997
- Thomas Pickering, Under Secretary of State 1997-2000
- George Shultz, Secretary of State 1982-1989
- Richard Solomon, President, United States Institute of Peace 1993-2012
- Frances Townsend, Homeland Security Advisor 2004-2008
- Frank Wisner, Under Secretary of State 1992-1993
Publications
PSA's bipartisan policy statements are signed by influential policy leaders and are pivotal in advancing bipartisan consensus and have garnered coverage by leading newspapers around the world. These statements help create bipartisan consensus among Democrats and Republicans on issues ranging from non-proliferation to climate change.
Arms Control and Nonproliferation
In September 2008, PSA issued a report card on the government's progress on preventing catastrophic nuclear, biological, or chemical attacks on the US. The organization gave the government an overall grade of C.
Climate
In March 2013, PSA released a statement highlighting the "staggering" cost of inaction, signed by 38 lawmakers, Cabinet secretaries, military and intelligence officials and national security experts. In the following weeks, the organization brought George P. Shultz, Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State, to Capitol Hill to hold a briefing on climate change and how it affects American national security and its role in the world. In total, PSA has released three bipartisan policy statements highlighting the importance of preventing climate change. One draws attention to the fact that the while the military and intelligence forces can monitor and protect us from terrorism, cannot protect us from rising seas, more violent storms, record droughts, spreading diseases and other long-term consequences of carbon pollution. The most recent policy statement was signed by 48 Republican and Democrat senior politicians, military commanders, security advisers and diplomatsâ€"including Chuck Hagel, William Cohen and Madeleine Albrightâ€"and states that climate change is a threat multiplier, as stated by the Department of Defense.
Programs
Partnership for a Secure America is most well-known on Capitol Hill for its bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Partnership Program (CPP), which it has run since 2009. Participants in this program get a special look at foreign policy and national security issues through a number of policy seminars with current and former administration officials. Previous speakers have included members of PSA's bipartisan Advisory Board, Tara Sonenshine, Ben Rhodes and others. Participants in the Congressional Partnership Program have also visited a number of organizations that influence international affairs.
PSA also works with the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation to equip congressional staff with a foundation of knowledge on negotiation and consensus-building strategies that will help participants develop bipartisan solutions to seemingly intractable issues. The program focuses on countering the win-lose style of negotiations, and instead focuses on win-win negotiation tactics. The PSA-Harvard Negotiation Program has been running since 2014.
Since 2012, Partnership for a Secure America has worked with the US Institute of Peace "to provide opportunities for congressional staff to engage with leading experts and fellow Capitol Hill staffers in bipartisan forums." PSA has put on over two dozen briefings with the US Institute of Peace, on topics ranging from Tunisian security issues and Afghanistan elections to revolutions in Egypt and Ukraine.
References
