Leslie S. Lebl
Principal, Lebl Associates

I am the Principal of Lebl Associates, a Fellow at the American Center for Democracy, and a contributor to the PoliticalMavens blog.

I'm a strong believer in making foreign policy accessible to the average educated citizen. Most people are busy; they want to be better informed about world affairs but have little time to do the necessary research, given that they receive little news via the mainstream media.

My job is to help fill that gap. I draw on my almost 25 years of experience as a Foreign Service Officer, my scholarly research and analysis, and the insights I gain from talking to American and foreign audiences.

In particular, I'd like to invite you to visit my blog (see Quick Links on the left) for updates on radical Islam in Europe, Iraq, transatlantic relations, Russia - whatever is of interest. If you'd like to receive daily notices of blog entries, please email me and I'd be happy to add you to my list.

For more detailed analysis, please see articles I have written on issues like combating radical Islam, transatlantic relations after Bush, U.S.-EU relations, including counter-terrorism cooperation, and European defense policy. You'll find the links on the 'Publications' page.

Along with many others interested in protecting First Amendment rights, I'll be supporting the Free Speech Protection Act, although I'm concerned that some versions of the bill will not be strong enough to do the job. If you want more info on this bill, click on the Quick Link to the website of the American Center for Democracy.

I'll also continue presenting short courses at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Connecticut in Waterbury. This spring's will explore the relationship between radical Islam and the European Union.