Georgetown Americas Institute

Dr. Román D. Ortiz is visiting fellow at the Georgetown Americas Institute. He has over 25 years of experience as a scholar and senior consultant on Latin American security, defense, and geopolitics, including Russian and Chinese activities in the region, as well as low-level threats, such as insurgencies, terrorist organizations, and criminal groups.

He is currently associate fellow with the International Institute for Strategic Studies and director of the Strategic Analysis and Consulting Group, a consulting firm that specializes in Latin American security and defense affairs.

He has been a non-resident fellow at the Joint Special Operations University, the academic component of the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and a senior consultant for the U.S. Institute of Peace. Dr. Ortiz has taught at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University (Washington DC), the Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.), the Gutierrez Mellado University Institute (Madrid) and Los Andes University (Bogota).

Previously, Dr. Ortiz worked as a consultant on Latin American security and defense affairs for the CNA Corporation. He has also led analytical projects on stabilization and rural security for USAID and international NGOs.

Between 2010 and 2014, he was adviser for irregular warfare matters to the Colombian Minister of Defense. During this period, he advised on the planning, execution, and evaluation of the internal security campaign. He also participated in studies to adapt the Colombian defense apparatus to the emerging strategic scenario following the peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas.

He worked as coordinator of the Security Studies Area of Fundación Ideas para la Paz (Bogotá) and was Director of the Observatory of Latin American Defense and Security (OSAL) at the Ortega y Gasset University Institute (Madrid).

Román D. Ortiz earned a Ph.D. in Political Science (Cum Laude) from the Complutense University (Madrid). He also has an MBA from the Pontifical University of Comillas (Madrid) and a B.A. in Political Science from the Complutense University (Madrid). A complete list of his publications can be found at https://romanortiz.academia.edu/research#papers.