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Stimson Commission on U.S. Drone Policy

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Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones, are increasingly relied upon as a key component of U.S. foreign policy, national security and military strategy. While the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency use drone fleets to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions, they also use drones as lethal weapons to execute targeted armed strikes as part of conventional warfare and counterterrorism strategy. The Stimson Commission on U.S. Drone Policy will examine this salient issue through a high-level task force co-chaired by retired Gen. John Abizaid, former Commander of U.S. Central Command, and Rosa Brooks, former counselor to the undersecretary of defense for policy and current professor of Law at Georgetown University. The commission will issue a set of pragmatic policy recommendations for the Obama administration. It is comprised of three working groups: Ethics and Law; Military Utility, National Security and Economics; and Export Controls and Regulations. The commission will conduct public events focused on timely elements of the drone issue.

Drone Policy Commission

Stimson’s Drone Commission pictured above (from left to right): Stimson Chairman of the Board Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr.; John B. Bellinger, Arnold & Porter; Commission Chairman Gen. John P. Abizaid; Jeffrey Smith, Arnold & Porter; Vice Chair Rosa Brooks, professor of law at Georgetown University; Peter Lichtenbaum, Covington & Burling and Mary Cummings, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Task Force:

Gen. John P. Abiziad (Ret.), chair
JPA Partners LLC

Rosa Brooks, vice chair
Georgetown Law Center

Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr.
Stimson Chairman of the Board

Lt. Gen. David W. Barno (Ret.) 
Center for New American Security

John B. Bellinger
Arnold & Porter

Mary Cummings
Duke University

Janine Davidson
Council on Foreign Relations

Peter Lichtenbaum
Covington & Burling LLP

Phillip Mudd
New America Foundation

Jeffrey H. Smith
Arnold & Porter

To read more about the commission, click here.

To read more on the task force, click here.

To read about the working groups, click here.

Events:

Emerging Uses of UAV Technology

The US Air Force and Drone Policy

 

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