Young Professionals: "Iranian Drones Evolved: How Western Sanctions Created a Drone Superpower"

Description

Benjamin Radd, PhD (UCLA 2015) JD (Stanford 2003), is a Political Scientist and Senior Fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, and an expert on government and politics of the Middle East, US foreign policy, and comparative law. 

Dr. Radd is also a professor at the UCLA School of Law and adjunct professor at the USC Gould School of Law, where he lectures on American legal development and constitutional law and politics.

His latest research focuses on political communication, public and private diplomacy, and the rhetoric of propaganda. 

In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Radd is the Founder and CEO of Fascination Lab — an educational and experiential learning consulting firm. In 2023, he was hired to design a political crisis simulation that was filmed and released as an award-winning documentary called “War Game”, which was selected to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and was a New York Times film pick for 2024 (available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video).

Dr. Radd is a frequent media contributor and commentator, with appearances on CNN, the BBC, NPR, FOX News, NBC, ABC, CBS, and the Los Angeles Times.

U.S. Army Field Artillery Officer (ADA Experience)

Twelve years in the California Army National Guard. Mark enlisted as a 68W Combat Medic and served across the 1-160th Infantry, 1-144th Field Artillery, and 1-185th Infantry battalions before commissioning as a Field Artillery officer with Air Defense Artillery experience. He served as the Charlie Battery Fire Direction Officer with the 1-144th Field Artillery.

He was one of the first officers in the California Army National Guard to experience drone warfare firsthand, with deployments to Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait. Within his first 10 days in country, his actions during a hostile drone attack helped save 100+ Syrian and American personnel, earning him the Combat Action Badge. He was later awarded the Army Commendation Medal with "C" Device (initially recommended for the Bronze Star) for developing 40+ intelligence briefs on drone threats for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

Mark is a published author and the writer behind Eyes in the Skies, a drone and national security publication with 1,600+ subscribers followed by senior defense leaders including Gen. (Ret.) David Petraeus. He serves on the board of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council Young Professionals, holds an M.A. in Government from Johns Hopkins University (published thesis) and a B.S. in Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles. Today he serves as an FAA Part 107 remote pilot, a CUAS subject matter expert and consultant, and the Founder & CEO of Cobalt — the defense startup behind this academy.