Officers of the America-Eurasia Center

Officers

Dr. Gerard Janco, President of The Eurasia Center

Dr. Gerard J. Janco is the Founder and President of the Eurasia Center. Dr. Janco has been a leading force in creating new analytical approaches to understanding recent developments occurring within 21st Century Eurasia. His approach is to access, then understand, the dynamic interrelationships between European and Asian nations after collapse of the Soviet Union. Dr. Janco's models include the economic and military ties compelling European integration, disintegration of the socialist state, and the reemergence of Eastern Europe and Central Asia nations. Such change is coupled with rapid globalization including trade with Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa which is essential for understanding the new Eurasia.

A central feature of Dr. Janco's approach is identifying how the United States can develop lasting relations with these new nations. The new Eurasia encompasses the geo-eco-political landscape of Europe and Asia - regions rich in terms of their history, cultures, peoples, languages, and natural resources. Such dynamic interactions have lasted over many centuries. After the collapse of the Soviet empire, there is a greater and freer movement of peoples, ideas, and goods. Such move is facilitated by the Internet. Dr. Janco's extensive research documents that Eurasian and American policy makers, politicians, business leaders, and educators must understand each other while providing a realistic economic development framework within which to fully nurture these new developments. In addition, Dr. Janco has warned of a resurgence of Putin's regime and its new disastrous war with Ukraine and the dangerous direction Xi Jinping is leading China toward with his clampdown in Western China, Hong Kong and now seeking a war with Taiwan. Wars are a diversion for the masses to create an outside enemy, to hide a regime's failings and a vehicle to continue authoritarian rule. Their new multipolar world concept is a world of aggression and violence against free peoples. While other nations may be attracted to their propaganda, make no mistake, it is a road to world disaster.

Dr. Janco, as an expert in Eurasian affairs, founded The Eurasia Center in 1988 as The Center for Soviet-American Relations. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the name was changed to The Center for American-Eurasian Studies and Relations. This was a watershed event making it the first organization in America to adopt the term "Eurasia". With broad acceptance of the term for this rapidly evolving region of the world the name was shortened to simply "The Eurasia Center". He created the well regarded Eurasia Report in 1990 as Publisher and Editor. The Eurasia Report has been newly renamed as "The Eurasia Journal", and it continues as a leading journal on Eurasian affairs. The America-Eurasia Center (The Eurasia Center), distances itself from the kooky charlatan philosophy of Aleksandr Dugin - who has adopted many of the right-wing, Bolshevik, Nazi ideas to foment an anti-Western attitudes and philosophical delusions which the Putin regime has bought into. The real Eurasia Movement was started by a group of Russian intelligensia who escaped to Paris and ultimately Yale University to create the first Eurasia Movement which sought to restore Russia to greatness by taking the best values of the West and best values of the East after communism collapsed. The seeds of the second Eurasia Movement was started by The Eurasia Center. Those who follow Dugin are sub-delusional as evidence by the current Putin regime.

Dr. Janco founded the Eurasian Business Coalition (EBC) in 1996. The EBC is an alliance of businesses from America and Eurasia to promote investments and two-way trade. He has been instrumental in organizing a number of Eurasian "Roundtables". These events led to The Eurasia Center becoming a prime sponsor of the annual World Russian Forum in Washington, D.C. since 2001.

Dr. Janco is a credentialed expert in international security and political affairs having earned a double Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He received his Masters Degree in National Security Studies at the George Washington University's School of Public and International Affairs in Washington, D.C. USA. He has worked for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, in the United States Congress, at the United States Institute of Peace, and for the Atlantic Council of the United States. He has lectured extensively at universities in America and also at some of the oldest universities in Eastern Europe including the Charles University in Prague, Jageillonian University in Cracow, Comenius University in Bratislava, and related universities in Russia. He has been instrumental in setting up American liaison offices in Prague and Moscow. Dr. Janco has been further energized to bring even greater numbers of programs and initiatives for greater progress to Eurasian and America. President@eurasiacenter.org

MEET OUR TEAM

Our Team Eurasia is experienced in both international and
national issues affecting American and European/Asian (Eurasian) relations.

Amb. Dmitirois Tsikouris

Member of the Board

of The Eurasia Center

Ambassadortsikouris@eurasiacenter.org

Ambassador Dimitrios Tsikouris is the Director of the US-European Program at The Eurasia Center/Eurasian Business Coalition and an Honorary Board Member. Ambassador Tsikouris was a career diplomat for Greece for many productive years. The Ambassador holds a Ph.D.(ABD) in International Law from the University of Cologne, Germany, Ph.D. American University coursework, School of International Service, a dual M.A. Degree in History and Politics from The University of New Orleans, and a B.A. in Political Science from The University of Athens. Ambassador Tsikouris is also fluent in modern Greek, Classical Greek, Latin, French, German, English, and Italian.

Ambassador Tsikouris began his Greek diplomatic service in 1974 as a Ministry of Foreign Affairs attaché to the Republic of Cyprus. Since then, he has held prominent diplomatic roles in Germany, the United States of America, Italy, NATO, and was the Greek Ambassador to Iran (1996-2000), the Kingdom of Belgium (2005-2007), and Indonesia (2008-2010). Ambassador Tsikouris is a prolific author and world lecturer - from New Orleans, across the Atlantic in Lyon, to Asia’s Tehran.

Ambassador Tsikouris has a long track record of concluding successful negotiations and policy executions. In 1995, he introduced and developed an innovative program on European Integration at the NATO Defense College in Rome. In 1997, Ambassador Tsikouris initiated an Agreement between European Union Governments and Iran following his proposal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran for the mutual return of recalled Ambassadors. In 2002, Tsikouris negotiated the return of 1,400 illegal immigrants from Greece back to Turkey. Then, in 2005, the Ambassador initiated and organized a rescue and repatriation mission to the tsunami victims in Thailand.

Ambassador Tsikouris was awarded the Commander of the Order of Phoenix (Greece) and the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy). Ambassador Tsikouris’ hobbies include swimming and springboard. He’s passionate about history as well as an avid reader of Classic, Hellenistic, and Byzantine literature.

Dr. Ioan Suciu

Senior Advisor,

Director, Education/Eastern Europe

isucui@eurasiacenter.org

Ioan Suciu has worked at Georgetown University for 27 years, and as Business Director and Associate Director of Georgetown University Press for 17 years. Prior to taking this position, he held a variety of management positions in the university's financial affairs division, and was a member of a research team, at the The Institute for the Study of International Migration within the Georgetown School of Foreign Services. He also taught Business Publishing.

Prior to joining Georgetown University, Ioan spent several years working in International Affairs in countries such as Poland, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. In his early professional life, Ioan started his career in tourism and served as Vice President and Executive Director of the International Office of Tourism in Romania. He also taught Economics at Babes Bolyai University and published articles on various topics related to the Economics of Tourism and International Tourism.

Ioan holds a B.S. and M.S. in Economics, Finance and Accounting from Babes Bolyai University, Romania, a M.A.L.S (International Affairs). and a M.P.S. in Journalism from Georgetown University. He also studied in the Executive Master in Leadership Program, and earned advanced graduate certificates in International Business/Affairs, Management, Financial Planning, and Multimedia from Georgetown University, and worked on post-graduate and doctoral studies.

He is a member of several professional associations, including the Association of American Publishers, The Association of American University Presses, the Washington Book Publishers, and is a member of the World Affairs Council. He served on the Business Systems Committee of American University Presses for 8 years, and was also a chair of the committee for a year. Other volunteer work: a member of church council serving as secretary and auditor, Teacher and Tutor of English as a Second Language at Washington English Center and was teaching Romanian for professionals doing business in Romania.

Rev. Mark Farr

Vice President & Director

of The Eurasia Center

mfarr@eurasiacenter.org

Mark Farr serves as Vice President of the America-Eurasia Center and directs the Civil Society Program and will serve the Center’s mission in creating efforts toward peace and conflict resolution. Mark has more than 25 years hands on experience in advocacy, policy, and coalition building in political and public service in the United States and the United Kingdom, Rev. Mark Farr is currently Vice President and Founding Board Member of the John Lewis Institute for Peace, a non-profit created by Congressman Lewis to carry on the work and promote the values of the prominent civil rights leader.

Mark was President of the Sustained Dialogue Institute, (SDI) an influential action-based dialogue organization which is the founding idea behind the famous Camp David Accords. SDI aims to reverse the polarization of civic space and build bridges through enhanced relationship-building and leadership development especially among young people. Mark served as SDI representative and co-host of the bi-annual Dartmouth Conference, which seeks to enhance relationships with the Russian Federation (RF) and avoid nuclear war, principally using private dialogues with participants. Prior to that, Mark was President & CEO of the Faith and Politics Institute, a non-profit organization that serves members of Congress, national political leaders, and senior congressional staff by offering experiential pilgrimages, reflection groups, retreats and public forums. He oversaw senior Congressional activities to enrich and support bipartisan discourse, including the Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage, both Senate and House Chiefs of Staff meetings, Member Reflection Groups, retreats and forums. Between 2003 and 2010, Mark was a Senior Director of The Points of Light Foundation, Founded by President George H.W. Bush, dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service.

Mark is an ordained Episcopalian priest. His last parish was Wimbledon in the United Kingdom. He is a keen painter and musician, and in England was chair of the Wimbledon Arts Festival.

Dr. Samir Witta

Samir Witta

Director of Humanitarian Affairs

SWitta@eurasiacenter.org

Samir Witta has volunteered as the Civil Society and Medical Director of the Eurasia Center’s Humanitarian Program since 1992. However, when he was traveling to Homs Syria in 2012, he witnessed the beginning of Syrian uprising and helped parents to escape to Idlib. He traveled to traveled to refugee camps in Turkey to help refugees medically.

In 2016, Dr. Witta established the non-profit organization All the Children of Light and established schools in Syria to help refugees and war orphans with education. As Humanitarian Director of the Eurasia Center also, he collaborated with the Center to highlight the need to help refugee children in Syria. In 2017, he traveled to Syria to congratulate 1600 students after the first year of education. He created the Bakery of Light and the Olives of Light in Salqin, Syria to help schools with sustain their expenses. In 2019, Dr. Witta traveled again to Idlib, Syria and addressed the students to congratulate them on the third year of completion of their studies.

Charles F. Sills

Senior Advisor,

Director, Energy & the Environment

CSills@eurasiacenter.org

Charles Sills is a Senior Advisor on the Boards of the Eurasia Center and the Eurasia Business Coalition, and serves as the Director of Energy and Environment and International Security issues. He is also assisting with the development of the Eurasia Center’s Gulf States Program. He has helped moderate EBC’s conferences and panels on ‘Infrastructure and Energy Investment Opportunities on the New Silk Road’, ‘Doing Business with the BRICS’, and ‘Doing Business with the Eurasian Economic Union’.

Mr. Sills has extensive experience planning & directing international industrial and infrastructure initiatives – having served on the Danube Task Force that ran the Danube Basin Environmental Restoration Program led by the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and the UN Development Program, involving 13 countries from Austria to Moldova; the Japan-U.S. Joint Fund for Social & Economic Development in East/Central Europe; the Helsinki Commission; the Kaliningrad Defense Conversion Initiative; and the NGO Delegation on NAFTA. He was responsible for securing funding for the Smithsonian Institute's biodiversity preservation/cancer cure research program in Brazil's Amazon region; the Sassari, Sardinia symposium on ozone depletion organized by the International Council of Scientific Unions; and the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD).

Ralph E. Winnie, Jr.

Director, China Program and Vice President of The Eurasian Business Coalition’s Global Business Development

RWinnie@eurasiacenter.org

Ralph Winnie Jr., Director of The Eurasia Center’s China Program and Vice President of The Eurasian Business Coalition’s Global Business Development

Ralph E. Winnie, Jr. is Director of the Eurasia Center’s China. He also serves as Director of the Eurasian Business Coalition’s China Program and is Vice President of Global Business Development. He was appointed by the Guangxi Investment Promotion Agency as Business Development Representative for North America. He has been responsible for the promotion of business development, tax and trade between Guangxi province in the People’s Republic of China and the United States. Ralph has worked directly with clients who wanted to do business in Guangxi province, arranging meetings with provincial government officials and the Guangxi Investment Promotion Agency which assist him in helping to identify and locate potential Chinese joint venture partners for clients.

Ralph E. Winnie, Jr. has also hosted high level delegations from Guangxi province in Washington, D.C. and organized a seminar for Guangxi government officials to meet with individuals and business leaders who had an interest in learning about business and cultural opportunities in China in September 2005 and December 2007.

Jamie Weston-East

Senior Director

CEO of Creative Global Strategy Group, stands as a paragon of innovative leadership and strategic vision in the realm of customer engagement, communications, and global contact centres to name but a few. With a career spanning over three decades, Jamie has been a driving force behind transformative changes in the industry. Before helming Creative Global Strategy Group, Jamie dedicated 28 years to American Express, where they served as Vice President. This extensive tenure at American Express was marked by significant contributions to the company's transformation and evolution in contact, honing skills and insights that would later define Jamie's approach to business and leadership.

At Creative Global Strategy Ltd, Creative Global Strategy LLC and CGS Consulting (Creative Global Strategy Group), Jamie has been instrumental in offering expert knowledge and solutions in areas such as Contact Centre, Transformation, Cloud, Re-Engineering, Change Management, Networking, Migration to Cloud, Journey Design and Orchestration, OmniChannel, and Conversational AI consulting. Under Jamie's guidance, the company has successfully transformed contact centres of all sizes, from modest 50-seat operations to expansive 40,000-seat centres.

Jamie's expertise extends beyond contact centre technology to encompass Chat and Digital Transformation, reshaping some of the largest Blue Chip Finance Houses and IT and mobile phone providers globally. This blend of technological acumen and business savvy has been pivotal in driving the company's success. In recognition of these accomplishments, CEO Monthly Magazine has honoured Jamie with the title of "Customer Acquisition CEO of the Year 2023 - London" in their upcoming 2023 CEO of the Year Awards. This accolade reflects Jamie's exceptional leadership and innovative strategies that have significantly contributed to the industry.

Jamie's leadership philosophy transcends technological innovation, emphasizing continuous learning and development. This approach has been key to maintaining Creative Global Strategy Groups position at the forefront of an ever-evolving industry. As Jamie Easton-Wise continues to lead Creative Global Strategy Group towards new heights, their visionary leadership and extensive experience are set to redefine industry standards, leaving an indelible mark on the global contact business landscape.

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Richard Trifan

Director of

Government Relations

RTrifan@eurasiacenter.org

Dr. Erwin Epstein
VP, Director of
International Education
EEpstein@eurasiacenter.org

Andre Smolnick
VP, Moscow Representative
ASmolnick@eurasiacenter.org

Raju Shrestha
Director, South Asia
RShrestha@eurasiacenter.org

Michael Cooper
Director,
Program Development
MCooper@eurasiacenter.org

Jacob Choe
Director,
East Asia Program
JChoe@eurasiacenter.org