Professional Affiliation

Chairman, Board of Advisors

Expert Bio

John Sitilides is Principal at Trilogy Advisors LLC, a government relations and business development company specializing in federal strategies, including environmental regulatory and energy technology issues. He serves on the Board of Directors of Biovest International, a biopharmaceutical company, is a member of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council and the Wilson Council, and is under contract to the State Department to manage policy training for U.S. diplomats in Greece and Cyprus. In 1998, Sitilides founded the Western Policy Center, a respected Washington, D.C. international relations organization specializing in U.S. foreign and security policies in the eastern Mediterranean, Balkan and Black Sea regions. As Executive Director, he was responsible for strategic planning, policy analysis, financial management, media relations and corporate communications until its December 2004 merger with the Woodrow Wilson Center.He previously served as a government relations strategist in Sacramento, CA, specializing in environmental regulation and international risk analysis, and as a communications and legislative advisor for seven years to U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY), including two successful re-election campaigns. Twice formally recognized for his international affairs expertise by the State Department, Sitilides is frequently interviewed on national politics and global affairs. He has testified before Congress on foreign policy, and delivered regional and global security analyses for the Defense Department at the U.S. Army Strategic Command, the U.S. Joint Forces Command, and the National Defense University. He served as an informal foreign policy advisor to the 1996 Dole/Kemp presidential campaign, and was a member of the Commerce Department's Initiative for Technology Cooperation in the Balkans.He serves on the Board of Trustees of International Orthodox Christian Charities, a global humanitarian organization; of Leadership 100, a national Greek Orthodox endowment; and of the American Community Schools of Athens, the premier international school of Greece. In 2007, Sitilides received the "Greek Letters and Culture Award" for his contributions to the advancement of classical knowledge in modern American education, religion, and culture.
 

Education

M.A., International Affairs, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; B.A., Political Science, Queens College
 

Subjects

Balkan Region,Black Sea Region,East Europe,European Union,Greece,International Security,NATO,Southeast Europe,Turkey,U.S. Foreign Policy,U.S. Politics
 

Experience

Chair of the State Department's Advanced Area Studies program on Greece and Cyprus at the Foreign Service Institute; Executive Director, Western Policy Center; selected by the Department of State under its "U.S. Speaker Specialist" program to promote public diplomacy and communicate American domestic and foreign policies before EU audiences; member of the Department of Commerce Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Advisory Council; regular speaker on foreign policy at the Pentagon's National Defense University and the National Foreign Affairs Training Center
 

Expertise

Greece; Cyprus; Turkey; U.S. Foreign Policy; International Security; NATO; EU; UN

Major Publications

• "The Next Chapter In U.S.-Greece Relations: The View From Across The Atlantic," Odyssey Magazine, November-December 2009
• "Quiet Bridge-Building in Greek-Turkish Relations," The Washington Times, January 26, 2008
• "The Road through Brussels: The U.S.-Turkey Agenda," Turkish Policy Quarterly (Summer 2005)
• "Strategic Engagement in a New Era," BBC International, October 2004