Ambassador Vasil (Dato) Sikharulidze is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program. He is a former Georgian Ambassador to the US and former Minister of Defense. He is a board member of the Atlantic Council of Georgia. Additionally, he is a professor at Webster University and a lecturer at Tbilisi Open University and Ilia University, Tbilisi. Ambassador Sikharulidze served as a NATO Fellow from 2001-2003 and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Sikharulidze is a co-author of a number of research publications on security policy, strategic connectivity, security sector reform, and strategic communications. Vasil holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and MD in Psychiatry from Tbilisi State Medical University. He has 17 years of Public Service experience and held high-ranking positions, including those of the Minister of Defense of Georgia (December 2008 – August 2009); Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United States, Canada, and Mexico (Washington, D.C., US) (Dec 2005- Dec 2008); Deputy Minister of Defense, Undersecretary of the National Security Council of Georgia, Deputy Head of Georgian Mission to NATO and Head of NATO Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.