Eastern Approaches: Reconnoitering the Suwalki Corridor
The Jamestown Foundation is proud to release the inaugural episode of a new video interview series, Eastern Approaches. Named after the book of the same name by British diplomat, spy and adventurer, Fitzroy Maclean, Eastern Approaches will feature conversations with renowned experts on the most important geostrategic issues the United States faces in Eurasia, with an eye on detail typically absent in foreign policy discussions today.
In its first episode, Jamestown President Glen Howard interviews Jacek Bartosiak, the CEO and Founder of Strategy&Future. Bartosiak, a renowned expert on geopolitics and strategy in Central and Eastern Europe, has just returned from reconnoitering the geography of the Suwalki Corridor, the slim 65-mile border between Poland and Lithuania that poses a major military dilemma for NATO military planners. Bartosiak explains the difficulty of defending this terrain, and what can be done to strengthen NATO’s position.
]
Featuring
Jacek Bartosiak
CEO and Founder, Strategy&Future
Interviewed By
Glen Howard
President, The Jamestown Foundation
Watch Here
Participant Biographies
Jacek Bartosiak
Author of best-selling books, including “Pacyfik i Eurazja. O Wojnie” (Pacific and Eurasia. On War” (2016), which focuses on the ongoing great power competition in Eurasia and the possible war in the Western Pacific, as well as – ”Rzeczpospolita między Lądem a Morzem. O wojnie i pokoju.” (Poland and Intermarium between the Land and the Sea Powers – (2018), which deals with the geostrategic reality Poland and Europe face in the era of great power competition, and is an in-depth study of the Central Eastern European theatre of war and modern warfare.
A Senior Fellow at the Potomac Foundation in Washington DC, Director of Wargaming & Simulations Program at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, co-founder of PlayofBattle – a wargaming and simulation games studio. Jacek is also a contributor at Nowa Konfederacja, and at New Generation Warfare Center in Washington DC. Dr. Bartosiak is a former (2018–2019) CEO of Solidarity Transport Hub – the largest infrastructure project in Poland’s history; and an advisor to the Government plenipotentiary for the Solidarity Transport Hub (2017–2018). Jacek is a graduate of the Law and Public Administration Faculty of Warsaw University and an attorney, specializing in corporate, business and financial law and Managing Partner of Warsaw based law office since 2004.
As a renowned expert on geopolitics, Jacek has been a leading voice in the debate on the strategic reality of Central Eastern Europe, Eurasia and the Western Pacific, factors affecting the geopolitical realities, and has participated in countless conferences and speaking engagements in Poland and worldwide.
Glen Howard
Glen Howard is the President of the Jamestown Foundation, one of the world’s leading research and analysis organizations on Eurasia. Based in Washington, D.C., Mr. Howard has overseen the research and analysis activities of Jamestown for the past 16 years and extensively dealt with Russia and Eurasia in his capacity as Jamestown President, working with the regional leaders and national strategists across Eurasia from the Baltic to Central Asia.
An expert on Eurasia and Russia, Mr. Howard is the co-author with Matt Czekaj of the new book Russia’s Military Strategy and Doctrine, a collection of writings on Russian military strategy and doctrine by some of the world’s leading defense experts. Mr. Howard is also the editor of the book Volatile Borderland: Russia and the North Caucasus, and other words. He has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, Real Clear Defense, the Hill, and other prominent publications.
Mr. Howard is privileged to have worked for the late Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski from 2002 to 2008 as the executive director of an advocacy organization seeking a peaceful resolution of the second Russo-Chechen war. Mr. Howard worked at the U.S. Embassy Moscow from 1984-1986 and is fluent in Russian and proficient in French, Turkish and Azerbaijani.
Mr. Howard received a Master’s degree in Soviet and East European Studies from the University of Kansas (1988) and has an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University in Business Management (1984).
