Thursday, January 31, 2013

Will SecDef Panetta Retire From Think Tanks?

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will be stepping down from his position soon to tend to his walnut farm, but will he completely leave the think tank world?  After all, his ties to a variety of think tanks, both inside and outside of Washington, are quite deep.  Following are some examples:
  • From 2000-2009 Leon Panetta was the Center for National Policy's (CNP) National Advisory Board Chair.  [Earlier this month CNP merged with the Truman National Security Project.]
  • Panetta was the 2012 recipient of CNP's Edmund S. Muskie Distinguished Public Service Award.
  • In June 2012, Panetta gave a speech at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), a think tank which provided staff and support in 2006 for the Iraq Study Group that counted Panetta as one of its members.
  • In November 2012, Panetta gave a speech at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a think tank co-founded by Michele Flournoy, his former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.  She is now a member of the CNAS Board of Directors.