FDI Chairman Awarded Top Japanese Honour

FDI Chairman, Jerry Ellis, has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, by the Japanese Government. It is the second most prestigious Japanese decoration after the Order of the Chrysanthemum. The Order of the Rising Sun was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese Government and was established in 1875. It features rays of sunlight radiating from the rising sun. The awarding of the Order is administered by the Decoration Bureau of Office of the Prime Minister. It is awarded in the name of the Emperor.

This award recognises Mr Ellis’ long association and involvement in the development of Australia-Japan relations. This includes his numerous visits to Japanese Universities in Tokyo to encourage exchanges with Monash University; membership of the Australian-Japan Business Co-operation Committee; and work in raising corporate sponsorship for the visit to Japan, by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Mr Ellis was the Chairman for the Australian Japanese Foundation for a number of years.

FDI Director Honoured in Australian Awards

The Commonwealth of Australia on June 11, 2007, announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, that it had appointed Gregory Copley as Member of the Order of Australia. The investiture of the honour — which carries the post-nominal initials AM — will take place later in 2007, but the Order’s citation indicated that the honour was being given for Mr Copley’s contributions to international affairs and the study of strategic philosophy.

Mr Copley is an Australian based in Washington DC where he heads ISSA, Future Directions International’s (FDI) sister organisation. He helped establish FDI and remains a Director. He also serves as chairman of FDI’s research committee. FDI is currently working on a major strategic position paper for Australia entitled Australia 2050, and Mr Copley is directing the research and analytical aspects of the study designed to examine Australia’s strategic operating environment and options through the first half of the 21st century.

Just before the official announcement, Mr Copley was in Canberra for meetings with the Governor-General of Australia, Maj.-Gen. Michael Jeffery, and with Chief of Army Lt.-Gen. Peter Leahy. Mr Copley has in the past received a number of national honours, but this was the first from his native country. One of his recent books, The Art of Victory, was hailed as a significant contribution to the study of grand strategy philosophy.

Founding FDI Director Launches Art of Victory
Founding Future Directions International Director and Research Committee Chairman Gregory Copley recently released his book entitled: “The Art of Victory: Strategies for Personal Success and Global Survival in a Changing World”. The Art of Victory is based on the author’s four decades of work at the highest levels of governments around the world and was originally written as a guide to national leaders to shape long-term strategies for national success. The Art of Victory offers a holistic and balanced view of simple success strategies, with 28 maxims for survival and prosperity in the advancing wave of social, technological, and environmental change.

The Art of Victory has been met by great acclaim:

Former Secretary of State and Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.:

"We live in a world which demands instant gratification in all things, but this seminal work, The Art of Victory, reminds us — in a way not done before — that victory, the very survival of societies and civilizations, is a multi-generational task which requires an understanding of history and of ourselves. The victory of the modern civilization, which took so long to build, is now being challenged. Gregory Copley, who has worked in the field of strategic philosophy and intelligence for four decades, has defined in this unique and important book the scope of what victory really is, and how it can be sustained and nurtured."

Acclaimed author and analyst Yossef Bodansky, author of The New York Times bestsellers Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America and The Secret History of the Iraq War:

"The Art of Victory is an eye-opening study of the strategic realities of man’s eternal challenges. It bypasses our day-to-day battles to focus on who we are, where we need to go — as individuals and societies — and what we must do to get there. Significantly, The Art of Victory is not abstract pontificating: Gregory Copley, our only conscious grand strategist and exponent of psychological strategy, provides vital new insights into the key challenges facing us today: terrorism and globalism. If Sun-tzu’s Art of War is the marshal’s baton in the knapsack of every soldier, then the beautifully written Art of Victory should be the secret strength of all who wish to lead society."

His Excellency Maj.-Gen. Michael Jeffery, AC, CVO, MC, (Ret’d.), Governor-General of Australia:

"Gregory Copley’s The Art of Victory is an outstanding work. In researching widely and thinking deeply about the concept of victory, he has written a most thorough, ordered and lucid exposition, on a subject he defines as “the ability of peoples to survive down the generations”. The Art of Victory is both highly philosophical and of practical value, being very much a book for our volatile and uncertain times. I found it inspiring, stimulating and enjoyable to read, and I commend it whole-heartedly to the general and specialist reader."

To order the Art of Victory, click here.