Last week, the Center for Threat Awareness was officially launched at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas. The decision was both apropos and easy considering the nature of the event and our disposition as Think Tank 2.0™. On Sunday it will have been two years since ThreatsWatch – the Center’s public face - first appeared. And thanks to the attention we have received since those early, uncertain days, we had reached a point where a corporate enterprise was not only required, but essential for future growth. From the beginning we had intended to build an organization that would work to make the key issues, events and trends relating to the threats we all face more accessible to a broader audience. The Center will ensure that we can continue to provide a venue for reasoned and knowledgeable discourse on the ideas, principles, events and challenges impacting each of us today, as well as offering us further opportunities for research and outreach beyond the scope of ThreatsWatch.

Here’s a little background on the organization, our objectives, and those involved.

The Center for Threat Awareness is organized as a non-profit, educational organization. We have applied for and are awaiting approval from the IRS as a 501(c)3 for tax purposes. All Center activities to date have been entirely self-funded by the current Board of Directors.

The Center has established the following research centers to focus our efforts to broaden public awareness and enhance policy maker understanding of the threats to our nation and her interests:

· National Security Policy and Practice

· Defense and Military Operations

· Foreign Policy

· Terrorism and the Global War

· Intelligence and Counterintelligence

· Liberty and Governance

Our research efforts will produce both original, insightful analysis on pertinent issues and leverage the work of other professional researchers and analysts to make knowledge of significant threats more accessible to the public.

The Center is staffed by an intellectually-diverse set of authors and analysts who contribute regularly to ThreatsWatch in either published written form or as professionally produced multimedia content from our new investigative podcasting team Global Crisis Watch:

Sasha Eckstein
Host, Global Crisis Watch

Jay Fraser
Homeland Security

Joshua Goodman
Iran

Nick Grace
Host and Producer, Global Crisis Watch

C. Hart
Arab-Israeli Conflict

Clay Varney
Africa

Our Board of Directors, in addition to managing Center operations, are also regular contributors of analysis and commentary to ThreatsWatch:

Marvin Hutchens
Foreign Policy
Liberty & Governance

Steve Schippert
Defense & Military Operations
Terrorism & the Global War

Michael Tanji
Intelligence & Counterintelligence
National Security Policy & Practice

Our Board of Advisors will be helping us find a firm footing as we prepare for the future, and guiding us along the most likely paths to success:

Kevin Aylward
Wizbang, LLC

Andrew Cochran
Counterterrorism Foundation and CounterterrorismBlog.Org

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Counterrorism Foundation

Dr. Mary Habeck
Johns-Hopkins, School of Advanced International Studies

Dr. Michael Ledeen
American Enterprise Institute

Fred Pruitt
Rantburg

To those who have supported us for the last two years, we offer our deepest and heart-felt thanks. To all newcomers to ThreatsWatch and the Center, we offer a sincere welcome. Our two years of labor notwithstanding, this is merely the start of our journey on the road to increased threat awareness and more informed public discourse on challenges to liberty and freedom worldwide. We hope you find value in our efforts and will share with your family, friends and colleagues the work of the Center for Threat Awareness.

We will have specific Center for Threat Awareness details on the site soon, as well as other CTA special reports and updates.