Ariel Cohen

Ariel Cohen, L.L.B., Ph.D., is a well-known Washington-based foreign, economic and security policy expert. His particular expertise lies in the areas of Russias economic and financial policy; U.S.-Russian relations; Caspian pipeline security; ethnic conflict; and relationships between Russia and the New Independent States (NIS). He also has expertise on Turkey and Israel. Dr. Cohen has conducted policy briefings at the White House and produced numerous analyses, which were published in the leading journals and newspapers in the U.S. and around the world. He has organized and conducted conferences spanning a broad range of subjects, including international financial institutions aid to Russia; international organized crime; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other topics.

Cohen is Research Fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Davis International Studies Institute at the Heritage Foundation. Cohen manages a successful policy research program on Russia, the New Independent States and Central Europe, working closely with Congressmen and Congressional staff members and cabinet-level Russian, Eurasian and Eastern and Central European decision makers. He has over 18 years experience and increasing responsibility in policy development and research, project design, project implementation and management, project evaluation, as well as legal reform, government relations/political public relations, journalistic writing, and broadcasting.

Dr. Cohen was a Senior Consultant in charge of Legal Reform projects at the International Development practice at Burson-Marsteller, a leading international public information firm. He has consulted for the U.S. Agency for International Development, The World Bank, the United States Government, the U.S. Senate, and Radio Liberty-Radio Free Europe. He lectured at the Central Intelligence Agency and appeared in CIA/Department of State-sponsored conferences. He also advised multinational corporations and law firms in energy, retail, aerospace, and financial sectors in the former Soviet Union and Easter and Central Europe.

Dr. Cohen frequently testifies before committees of the U.S. Congress, including House Foreign Relations, House Armed Services, House Judiciary Committees and the Helsinki Commission. He regularly appears on CNN, NBC, BBC-TV and other major radio and TV networks. In addition to his work at Heritage, Dr. Cohen serves as a weekly commentator for Voice of America and United Press International, and writes as a guest columnist for the Washington Post, the Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Journal of Commerce, Harvard International Review and other journals and magazines in the U.S. and abroad. He is a member of Editorial Board of Central Asia and the Caucasus (Stockholm). Dr. Cohen has served as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University and in a number of West Coast universities, including Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. His book, Russian Imperialism: Development and Crisis, was published by Praeger Publishers/Greenwood in hard cover (1996) and paperback (1998).

Curriculum Vitae (in PDF format). Requires Acrobat Reader