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Mark V. Vlasic
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Mark V. Vlasic is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Institute for Law, Science & Global Security, and a principal at Madison Law & Strategy Group PLLC, where he heads the firm’s international practice. A public sector specialist at the World Bank Group, Mark served as the head of operations of the StAR Secretariat, a presidential initiative to help developing countries recover stolen assets from past dictators. Before joining the Bank, he served as a White House Fellow and special assistant to the Secretary of Defense (focused on foreign policy issues), helped advise the President’s Special Envoy to Sudan, and was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service by Secretary Robert Gates. Prior to his government service, Mark practiced law in the litigation, international trade and public policy practice groups at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and served on the Slobodan Milosevic and Srebrenica genocide prosecution trial teams at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Mark has taught the Iraqi judges that tried Saddam Hussein, served on the U.S. Delegation to the Pan Am 103 “Lockerbie” terrorist bombing trial in the Netherlands, provided commentary to BBC, CNN, FOX News, CBS, Al Jazeera English, and NPR, and been published by journals and newspapers, including the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Washington Times, and Foreign Policy. A U.S. Army officer, he has been attached to Capitol Hill and the Defense Attaché Office at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. Mark studied business, theology and government at Georgetown University while on an Army ROTC scholarship, and received his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. He holds a Certificate in International Law from The Hague Academy of International Law and conducted post-doctorate research at Universiteit Leiden as a NAF-Fulbright Scholar to the Netherlands. Mark is a member of the Bars of California, the District of Columbia, and the Supreme Court of the United States, and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce’s Industry Advisory Committee on Services & Finance Industries.

Blog Entries by Mark V. Vlasic

A President's Support of Stolen Asset Recovery and the Fight Against Impunity

(0) Comments | Posted September 24, 2012 | 2:41 PM

In his address to the inaugural meeting of the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery in Doha, President Barack Obama conveyed American support for international anti-corruption and stolen asset recovery efforts in the so-called "Arab Spring" countries. It was the U.S. government's most notable statement of support for asset...

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Robert Zoellick: "Getting Stuff Done" at the World Bank and Beyond

(0) Comments | Posted July 5, 2012 | 6:13 PM

Last Friday was Robert B. Zoellick's last day as president of the World Bank Group. And while he may leave many legacies behind, perhaps the one that he will be most remembered for is embodied in the title his commencement address at the RAND Graduate School: "Getting Stuff...

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NATO's Warrior Scholars: The Critical Backbone of Our Atlantic Alliance

(1) Comments | Posted May 28, 2012 | 12:45 PM

When I was an Army ROTC cadet at Georgetown University, we were taught the importance of being "warrior scholars." Indeed, according to the Department of the Army's Institute of Heraldry, "the Greek helmet on the ROTC insignia is symbolic of the ancient civilization concept of the warrior scholar." Thus, as...

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"Old Country" Bonds: Chicago and the Future of the Atlantic Alliance

(0) Comments | Posted May 26, 2012 | 1:12 PM

At NATO's 25th Summit in Chicago, both President Barak Obama and NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen commented on the Windy City's unique role in transatlantic relations. Based upon decades of immigration from Europe to Chicago, the city is a testament to the strong bonds that exist on both sides of...

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International Stolen Asset Recovery As a Development Issue -- A World Bank President's Legacy?

(0) Comments | Posted April 21, 2012 | 8:18 PM

This weekend Robert B. Zoellick, the 11th president of the World Bank Group, will preside over his last Spring Meetings. And while many of the private discussions at the international forum of ministers and development officials will likely focus on Jim Yong Kim, the Dartmouth College president recently selected to...

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Gaddafi's Mansion: An "Arab Spring" Example of Asset Recovery

(0) Comments | Posted March 30, 2012 | 6:29 PM

This month the world saw the impact of one of the first major asset recovery cases brought by a new "Arab Spring" government: the High Court in London ruled a £10 million London mansion purchased by the eldest son of deposed Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi rightfully belongs to...

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Fighting Pirates With Paper: How the Law of the Sea Is Important in the Fight Against Piracy

(0) Comments | Posted March 1, 2012 | 5:00 PM

It was a beautiful day off the coast of Key West. But while most people would be enjoying the sun and surf of the Keys, I found myself talking about pirates and the Law of the Sea with my hosts on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, miles from the mainland...

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The Search for Gaddafi's Assets: How Libya and the Arab Spring Have Renewed the Global Fight Against Corruption

(0) Comments | Posted September 8, 2011 | 4:26 PM

The world watched as the Libyan rebels -- led by the Transitional National Council (TNC) -- fought to gain control of Tripoli and topple yet another infamous dictator. And when the TNC took control of the Libyan capital, the immediate objective turned to rebuilding the embattled nation. Unlike revolutions in...

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The Prosecutor v. Muammar Gaddafi -- and a Step Closer to Justice

(3) Comments | Posted July 26, 2011 | 6:52 PM

In its second act against a head of state, and pursuant to a United Nations Security Council referral, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague recently issued arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, as well as his son Saif al-Islam, and his military intelligence chief, Abdullah...

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5.7 Million Reasons for Duvalier to Return to Haiti

(0) Comments | Posted February 4, 2011 | 8:53 AM

After twenty-five years in comfortable exile, what convinced former president Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier to leave France and return to earthquake-shattered Haiti? Supporters will claim that he returned to help re-build his country. But if so, why did he choose to return a year after a 7.0 earthquake struck his...

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The Next Financial Reform Floodgate

(2) Comments | Posted July 30, 2010 | 11:17 AM

A lot can turn on an active verb. Hamlet said, "To be or not to be -- that is the question." The same applies to the new Dodd-Frank financial reform bill's whistleblower provisions, signed by President Obama last week, which requires that any whistleblower providing "original information" leading to a...

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Remembering Srebrenica & Our Responsibility to do More

(3) Comments | Posted July 17, 2010 | 9:46 PM

Fifteen years ago today, thousands of Muslims were being slaughtered in Europe. Some were killed opportunistically, but most were killed in a full-scale military operation: hands tied and blindfolded, they were lined up before freshly dug mass graves and shot in the back.

In other cases, rather than bussing...

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"With G-20 Influence... Comes G-20 Responsibility"

(0) Comments | Posted July 6, 2010 | 6:00 PM

The Group of Twenty (G-20), a world forum bringing established economic powers such as the United States and Japan together with emerging giants such as Brazil, China, and India, concluded a summit last week in Toronto, despite violent protests on the periphery. After eclipsing the Group of Eight (G-8) last...

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The Long Arm of Justice

(14) Comments | Posted April 13, 2010 | 3:04 PM

The long arm of justice caught up with Radovan Karadzic yesterday, as his former victims began to testify against him at a genocide trial at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Almost fifteen years after the Srebrenica genocide, when Bosnian Serb forces rounded up over 7,500 Muslim...

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