Robert B. Charles

Robert B. Charles is the former assistant secretary of state at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.^[1] He served under Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Biography

Education

Robert (Bobby) Charles received a J.D. from Columbia Law School in New York, M.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University in England, and A.B. from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He began his career clerking on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with Judge Robert R. Beezer (1987–88).

Career

After clerking on the Ninth Circuit, he specialized in criminal justice, intellectual property and antitrust law as a litigator in New York and Washington, at Weil Gotshal & Manges and Kramer Levin between 1988 and 1994. From 1992 through early 1993, he stepped into the public sector and served on the George H.W. Bush White House team, as a Deputy Associate Director, Office of Domestic Policy. Ten years earlier, he had served as a temporary appointee in the first-term Reagan White House for periods of 1981, '82 and '83. From 1995 through late 1999, he served as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice Subcommittee under Chairman/ Speaker J. Dennis Hastert. During that period, he wore three professional hats, also serving as senior staffer to The U.S. Speaker’s Task Force on a Drug Free America and U.S. House Bi-Partisan Drug Policy Group. All counter-narcotics and counter-narco-terrorism legislation was marked-up by or originated in that subcommittee, task force and policy group. From 1998 through 2000, he taught courses on Government Oversight and Cyberlaw at Harvard University's Extension School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he earned the Petra T. Shattuck Award for Excellence in Teaching.

From 1998 through 2009, Bobby served as a Naval Intelligence Officer (USNR) at the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and in the Pentagon, with the Chief of Naval Intelligence - Intelligence Plot (CNO-IP). After the September 11 attacks, in which American Airlines flight 77 hit the Pentagon and destroyed the CNO-IP, killing seven close colleagues, he volunteered for active duty and assisted in rebuilding the Chief of Naval Operations Intelligence Plot.

From mid-2003 to mid-2005, Bobby served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), under Secretary of State Colin Powell. His missions included building the security programs for and training the Iraqi and Afghan Police, coordinating and overseeing the US law enforcement training and support programs in Kosovo, Colombia and nearly fifty other countries. He also oversaw global civilian counter-narcotics programs, coordinated daily with US Departments of Defense and Justice, and restructured the financial management and operations of the two-billion-dollar bureau, imposing strict new accountability rules. Bobby is currently the President and Managing Member of The Charles Group, LLC, a Washington, DC-based consulting firm specializing in national security, international affairs, criminal justice and counter-narcotics, as well as health, prevention and other non-profit issues.His professional work has been described in a number of locations, including several leading volumes on the Powell period.^[2]

Published Works

A regular writer and commentator in print and broadcast media, Bobby remains close to many top decision makers in Washington, and formerly penned a column for The Washington Times. He authored Narcotics and Terrorism ^[3] a 2004 volume explaining national security and homeland security implications inherent in the worldwide illicit drug trade. He has also authored a number of academic studies and law review pieces.

In a column, titled Accelerated Training in Iraq, written for The Washington Times he credits the United States training of foreign police forces with assisting in the spread and maintenance of democracy:

"Afghanistan recently held a stunning, nearly violence-free election. Why? Largely because the Afghans wish intensely to live in freedom and to realize the offer of democracy. In some part the election was held because the State Department, assisted by our German allies, worked overtime training more than 29,000 police...." ^[4]

Charles is also an established writer on counternarcotic policy and is frequently published in national media for his views on anti-legalization following the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. (see:"Obama's Pot Promo" ^[5] and "Presidential Disconnect on Pot"^[6])

References

External links

• Official State Department bio