In American government, Scott Bates served as Secretary of State and Legislative Director for the Governor of Virginia where he was responsible for development and passage of the Governor’s legislative agenda. Bates has extensive experience on Capitol Hill having served as Chief of Staff for Congressman Nick Lampson, Counsel to Congressman Jim Turner, Senior Advisor to Congressman Maurice Hinchey and Research Director for Congressman Sidney Yates.

In politics, Bates has been a successful campaign manager for two campaigns in which Democrats won their first elections to the United States Congress (Jim Turner and Nick Lampson of Texas). As a political consultant he has developed winning strategies for six members of Congress, several U.S. Senators and many state level legislative caucuses. As a senior advisor he has helped develop policy and perform debate preparation for two United States Senators (Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy of Connecticut.) Bates currently serves as Finance Chairman of the Connecticut Democratic Party.

He helped produced a dozen reports on homeland security issues ranging from border security to bioterrorism.

Bates has worked in the British Parliament, served as an advisor to the Premier of South Australia and taught at the University of Pristina in Kosovo.  He has also been a featured speaker on defense issues and international affairs in conferences from Tokyo to Texas, Doha to Dallas, and from Beijing to Birmingham.

Bates has taught Homeland Security at the National Defense University in Washington DC. He has served as a Visiting Professor of International Law and International Human Rights Law at the University of Indiana School of Law, and Visiting Professor of Government at Connecticut College.  He was also a Visiting Professor of International Relations at the University of Pristina in Kosovo. Bates has provided commentary for media outlets on five continents including The New York Times, Washington Post, The Gulf Times, The Australian, The Taipei Times, the BBC, Al Jazeera and Russia Today.

Scott Bates holds a JD from the University Of Virginia School Of Law, a MSc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and graduated magna cum laude in History and Political Science from the University of Dayton. He attended the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Education Program in National and International Security.

He is President of the Center for National Policy, a Washington, D.C. based think tank and is a Senior Lecturer in American Government at the University of Tokyo.

Bates lives in his hometown of Stonington, Connecticut with his wife Lisa and their eight year old son Jacob. In Stonington he has served as President of the Board for the Stonington Community Center and the Stonington Free Library. He has also served as Chairman of the Stonington Police Commission.